Last spring, high school students applied to be student representatives to the Tahoma School Board. Each of these students are high-achieving, excellent in academics and passionate about their school and community. This year, Board Vice President Pete Miller and Director Matt Carreon had the challenging task of interviewing and selecting three new student board representatives to serve alongside two returning reps. This year’s student representatives to the Board of Directors are: Aditi Rana (senior, 2nd year rep), Madison Bennett (senior, 2nd year rep), Emma Schlutt (senior), Olivia Kizer (junior) and Slayton Cooper (junior).
“They’re coming out of the gate with some creative, thoughtful ideas for engaging their classmates and their district leaders,” said Vice President Miller. “They’re intentional about what they want this role to look like, they’re committed to being mentored by the board directors, and they’re tremendous leaders in our district and community who we’re proud to have sit with us on the dais.”
A common trait among these representatives is their belief in the power of their voice. They each have a desire to represent the diverse voices of their school, the district and the community by bringing the concerns and opinions of Tahoma students to the Board Directors.
The Board Directors for Tahoma School District have committed to keeping students at the center of their decision making. They ensure the District has policies in place to make sure every student receives high quality education, every day in every classroom. Our student representatives provide feedback that helps to keep the board informed on the impact of their work.
“I love the opportunity I have to provide my insight as to how policies being discussed should be altered to best represent the students they will be affecting,” Aditi said.
The five student representatives are excited to bring their new town hall initiative to Tahoma High School. They will be hosting THS Town Hall meetings during Power Hour to inform students of what is happening at the Board meetings and to receive feedback from the students. Emma says there is a plan for “creating a dropbox for students to share their opinions, while remaining anonymous.” Madison and Slayton also say they receive comments via Instagram. All five have conversations with other students in the halls and during Power Hour. Their goal is to listen to students and represent their student body.
“This position is a big responsibility,” Olivia said. “I think student representation at the district level, as opposed to the school level, is really significant.”
All regular School Board meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month except July, August, September and December (Executive Session at 6:00 p.m.), and the fourth Tuesday of the month except December which is held on the third Tuesday in December (Executive Session at 5:30 p.m.) unless otherwise posted. Meetings are held in the Central Services Center Board Room unless otherwise specified. Open sessions for regular board meetings begin at 6:30 p.m.
The next regular school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 11. The meeting can be streamed live online, and a video/audio recording will be made available following the meeting.