When most people think about government, the first thing that comes to mind are the big white buildings plastered in marble where suit-clad people squabble over petty details in difficult-to-understand texts. Eyes roll, blood pressures spike, and heads ache at the mention.

“If it wasn’t for the government I probably wouldn’t have to be here and I’d probably be a lot happier,” said Junior Lauren Beatty in typical teenage fashion.

What many overlook, on the other hand, are the more mundane but impactful forms of government that takes place within state legislatures, city councils, and of course, school boards. Our very own school board for the Snohomish School District meets every second and fourth Wednesday of the month so welcome to a late but ever-present installation of my school board meeting updates.

As always, the school board meeting that took place this Wednesday at the District Resource and Service center started off with a bang with a call to order, a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and a look at the public comment sign-up sheet that revealed a rare name gracing the first line of the otherwise blank paper. And that name, big shocker, was none other than me. But you can talk about whatever you want and it’s a great opportunity to share student perspectives on the state of Snohomish schools and get to know the people that make decisions that directly impact you. The school board is also a very accessible way of getting involved in your local community. Don’t want to stay for the whole meeting? You can leave whenever you want! (Jay Hagen, the president of the school board, will make this very clear to you.) Don’t want to drive all the way to the district office and brave the two round-a-bouts it takes to make it to the parking lot? Attend over Zoom! Being a little involved is better than nothing; go make some government teachers proud! Here’s the school board calendar and here’s the public comment sign-up sheet. (Please use them!)

Following the time for public comment, there were three items up for the approval of the school board including the request from Glacier Peak DECA to attend the International Career Development Conference in Florida. And following the approval of all three items, representatives for the district Student Advisory Council took their place behind the podium as they provided an update to the school board about their respective high schools.

“The official spring sports start day was today and we also have a new badminton team and this is the first ever year its been a varsity sport which I am very excited for,” reported Addyson Clarke during her update to the school board of the happenings of Glacier Peak.

She continued her report by mentioning that a survey was sent out by the ASB Senate on how schools can become more equitable and inclusive for all students which was followed by questions about the survey from the school board including a question on if the survey was sent out to all students.

“It was just within our ASB Senate because that is our main leadership group,” said Clarke. “With the position we are in it helps us get that leg up in being able to do more for the student body as opposed to someone who isn’t involved at all in leadership.”

The Student Advisory Council finished their debrief by mentioning the upcoming onboarding of the next group of student advisory council members. The tentative time for when applications will be sent out is late April.

There was also an update on the state of the alternative learning supports that exist within the school district. The head of alternative education programs informed the school board about the different options that students have if struggling in the traditional school setting such as AIM High School, APEX learning, the Parent Partnership Program, and others.

The school board is meeting this Wednesday at 6 p.m. and among the items on the agenda is a conversation on a comprehensive counseling plan. It’s okay to not know everything about the topic. It’s okay if you don’t have a specific answer to whatever problem you care about. It’s okay if your speech isn’t perfect or if your voice wavers or if you stumble over some words. Your thoughts on mental health matters. Your thoughts on how school is serving you matters. Student voice matters. Use it.