OROVILLE, Calif – The Butte County Board of Education is looking a bit different this year. For the first time ever, a student has been selected to join the board.
Aurora Loomis is a senior at Hearthstone Charter High School, and is the first student board member on Butte County’s Board of Education.
“It makes me feel happy that I’m a part of something” and can “make a difference in people’s lives,” explained Loomis.
Loomis applied for the new role when it was announced last fall that for the first time ever, a student would be added to the Butte County Board of Education. After interviewing for the position, she was sworn in in January.
She carries as full a load as other board members. And on top of her school work, she visits schools, help students and staff, and take part on discussions and decisions during board meetings.
Student well-being is a top priority for Loomis, after overcoming hardships herself. She wants to make sure that support of students’ mental and emotional health is considered heavily in the education system.
Loomis explained that she took the job because she wants people to understand that it is not not just the basic needs of education that are important.
“Kids need to know how it’s like in real life,” she said.
“It’s also that they need to learn that all students have emotions — and a lot of schools … push them aside and that’s why they’re not succeeding in their classes — because they don’t look at the bigger picture.”
Loomis said the job has made her more confident — and she hopes to inspire younger students.
“Scared of trying new things and everything — and taking this job — it got me out of my comfort zone to understand that not everything is bad or dangerous — and trying new things won’t hurt all the time,” said Loomis.
She hopes to transfer the skills she has learned so far to provide her success in her dream career.
“My plan is to be a mechanic and learn ASL,” said Loomis about American Sign Language (ASL). She said she wants to open her own mechanic’s shop.
She said her employees at the shop will have to learn ASL basics “because a lot of people are becoming deaf at a younger age and it would be beneficial for a lot of shops now a days to learn a little bit of ASL.”
Loomis says she plans to go college immediately after she graduates in June.
Now she is helping look for candidates to fill her spot as student representative on the Butte County Board of Education after she graduates.