NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: June 16, 2021
JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi State Board of Education (SBE) has selected Micah Hill of Laurel to serve as the high school junior student representative to the SBE for the 2021-22 school year.
Student representatives are non-voting members but provide input on policy decisions that affect Mississippi public schools. Micah will join Amy Zhang of Starkville, who serves as the high school senior representative to the SBE.
“The Board is proud to welcome Micah to the student representative program and is looking forward to working with her to advance education in Mississippi,” said Rosemary Aultman, SBE chair. “The Board values the perspective and insight the student representatives bring to our work. Micah impressed us with her grasp of student issues.”
Student representatives serve for two years. After the senior representative graduates, the junior representative will promote to the senior representative position. A new junior representative is appointed annually.
Micah is a junior at Laurel High School in the Laurel School District. She is a leader in her community who has earned awards for writing, computing and academics. She was recently awarded a national merit grant to host a camp for underrepresented girls in her community and for a STEM camp focused on foundational coding and 3D printing. Her school and extracurricular activities include speech and debate, art, the gospel and concert choirs, tennis, basketball and the Mississippi Votes Youth Advisory Council. She is currently a participant in the Emerging Rural Leaders Program at the University of Chicago.
“I am someone who has learned the power and responsibility not only of having my own voice, but also sharing that voice to make things possible for others, especially in my peer group and community,” Micah said.
The alternate junior representative is Isabella Reynolds, a junior at Pascagoula High School in the Pascagoula-Gautier School District. Alternates are named to fulfill the term of student representatives, should they be unable to complete their term for any reason.
Approximately 15 state boards of education have successfully implemented student advisory programs. In 2018, the SBE adopted a policy outlining the criteria for adding student representatives to the State Board.
The eligible applicant pool for the rising junior representative included 73 students, an increase from 23 last year. The 10 semifinalists will join the State Superintendent of Education’s Student Advisory Council, which provides input about educational opportunities and policy with Dr. Carey Wright, state superintendent of education.
Micah Hill
State Board of Education Junior Student Representative 2021-22
Isabella Reynolds
Alternate State Board of Education Junior Student Representative 2021-22
