The Mississippi State Board of Education is seeking applications from high school sophomores to serve as the new high school junior student representative on the SBE Board for the 2022-23 school year. Application deadline is Jan. 28, 2022.

Now in its fourth year, the Student Representatives of the SBE program includes a high school junior and a high school senior who serve as non-voting SBE members to share their viewpoints on policy decisions regarding Mississippi public schools.

The current SBE junior representative, Micah Hill of Laurel High School, will serve as the senior representative in 2022-23. Through a competitive process, the SBE will appoint a new junior representative to serve a two-year term starting July 1, 2022.

The top 10 semi-finalists among applicants, including the junior representative appointed and an alternate representative, automatically get to serve on the State Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council. More than 70 students applied to be the junior representative for the 2021-22 school year.

The SBE adopted policy in 2018 outlining criteria for adding student representatives to the State Board. Student representatives are responsible for attending monthly SBE meetings and any standing committees or subcommittees to which they are assigned. They are excused from school to attend SBE meetings as official school business, and they also work as liaisons for their peers to SBE.

The application packet must be mailed and postmarked by Jan. 28, 2022. Access the application at www.mdek12.org/MBE/Student-Representatives. A video component of the application must be uploaded by 5 p.m. Jan. 28, 2022.

For questions, contact Donna Hales at (601) 359-2331 or dhales@mdek12.org.