TOP OF THE CLASS

2021 MSBA Student School Board Member Scholarships Awarded to Baleigh Peterson and Morgan Hoong

By Greg Abbott, MSBA Director of Communications, and Bruce Lombard, MSBA Associate Director of Communications

Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop High School student Baleigh Peterson and Fairmont High School student Morgan Hoong were named recipients of the 2021 MSBA Student School Board Member Scholarship during the spring. More than 100 school districts have student school board members on their board, giving direct input on issues that affect their learning. The MSBA Student School Board Member Scholarship Committee reviewed 50 applications and narrowed the applicants to two $3,000 winners. This scholarship award is given as a way to reward and encourage students to become involved in governance of their school and for them to learn about the importance of having locally-elected school board members.

Baleigh Peterson brought message of unity to district, communities

Baleigh Peterson stepped onto the Gibbon-FairfaxWinthrop School Board not only during the challenge of COVID, but also the challenges of finding a new superintendent, trying to get out of Statutory Operating Debt, overcoming a recent referendum defeat and trying to hold onto community while closing a school building. She said she saw first-hand how board members had to make tough decisions that were not easy on the school community – especially closing a school in Fairfax. She said the students were disappointed in how people in the different communities were dividing and tearing each other down. So at a meeting with the community watching, she asked to give a speech about how the students want all of the communities in the district to be unified. “I hoped that the community would see that the students are always watching their actions,” she said. “That night the

decision was made to close the school, but the community did a better job of coming together.” Baleigh also had a front-row seat during a superintendent search for the district. “As a student, I felt it was important for the superintendent to be present in the schools. I also felt that due to our recent school building closure, our district needed someone energetic and someone with superintendent experience,” she said. She was very happy with the district’s pick of Jeff Horton. The district’s biggest hurdle is trying to get out of Statutory Baleigh Peterson Operating Debt. “Big decisions don’t result in full agreement, but because of our first steps to get out of SOD, we are able to keep moving towards the goal,” she said. Throughout all the challenges, Baleigh feels the board has been able to keep its focus on students. “Public education not only focuses on children’s academics, but also supports steps for them to become well-rounded individuals,” she said. As a student, she was able to participate in many student groups, community activities and various organizations such as 4-H. “When students get involved in organizations, it opens new

Zac P.

windows to their futures,” she said. Superintendent Jeff Horton said Baleigh was a breath of fresh air the district needed. “She was a glowing example of everything positive about the GFW Public School District,” he said. “She embodied the passion, spirit, and positivity that had made the district and community successful for so many years. Her only question was, ‘How can I help?’” If there’s anything about public education Baleigh would change, it would be an over-reliance on technology. COVID forced part of that emphasis on technology. “But after we get past COVID-19, it would be valuable for students to have a mixture of learning through technology and through paper and writing. Today, students spend so much time on technology because of online meetings, online learning, or simply having a technology-based school platform. It is good to get off of technology and learn hands-on.” Horton expects Baleigh to continue to do big things. “She is a bright, thoughtful, and positive woman who works endlessly every day to promote the good of the team,” he said. Next fall, Baleigh plans to attend the University of Minnesota St. Paul to major in Agricultural Communications and minor in Animal Science.

Morgan Hoong values community leadership, addressing education inequities

Morgan Hoong has put together an impressive high school career – which includes a 4.3 grade-point average. Morgan is also heavily involved in school activities and community leadership. Morgan Hoong In his scholarship recommendation letter for Morgan, Fairmont Area Superintendent Joseph Brown wrote about Morgan’s service to the school board’s Curriculum, Operations, and Policy committee – and her service on the Community Education and Recreation Council. Also, Brown said Morgan coordinated the Martin County Mask-Up movement to help fight the spread of COVID-19. Morgan said she was eager to serve on the school board so she could create positive change within the school district – and also to be able to represent students of color within the school district.

“I worked a lot with our elementary students and was in high school amongst my peers, and I thought I would have a good understanding of our students in order to represent them,” Morgan said. Nicole Green – the vice-chair of Fairmont Area School Board – wrote this about Morgan in her recommendation letter: “Morgan is also very adept at recognizing issues within our system and advocating for positive change. I am happy that Morgan has joined our board as a student representative and I am grateful for the insights she provides and the voice she gives to our students.” Morgan said the biggest thing she learned is how much our school board runs things for the district and the critical role that the board plays within the community. “In the time of school running through the pandemic, I saw how much the school board was a panel that works for the community,” Morgan said. “Through sitting through multiple committee meetings, I was able to see the work that our school board did aside from the regular public meetings.” Morgan said it was hard to have the school board members understand what school was like through a student and teacher perspective. “I think our school board has a very great disconnect between understanding what goes on within our school and the hardships that teachers and students face,” Morgan said. “However, we were once able to create a student survey and present our findings to our school board members so they could understand the hardships that students faced during distance learning. This issue is still ongoing, and I hope the next school board members are able to bridge the gaps between our school board and teachers and students.” In Morgan’s scholarship application essay, she wrote “As a low-income, first-generation Chinese American, I have experienced the educational disparities within our school district between low-income students, English learning students, and students of color.” Morgan said she used her power and position as a student school board member to bring together her school board and administrations to address and fix those disparities. She created the Fairmont Coalition for Equitable Education in which the superintendent, a school board member, and elementary and high school administrators met every Thursday. She worked with this group “to address our EL student achievement gap through creating accessible education, working on creating a comprehensive curriculum that includes people from marginalized communities, and changing our school culture in order for it to be a safe learning environment for all students.” “Creating this group has allowed me to present and address these issues with our school board and administration and have them make effective changes surrounding these issues,” Morgan added. According to Morgan, community involvement and leadership is “the most important thing ever.” “It is so important to know the other people in your community and understand them,” Morgan said. “It creates unity and connections amongst us, which allow us to grow together. We all live in the same community and maybe we all live our separate lives, but working together and creating connections allow our community to be the best that it can possibly be. Community leadership is about making the lives of those around you better, and there’s no better feeling than being able to help those around you. When asked if she would ever run for school board in the future, Morgan said she would consider it after college. “I still hold the same values in which I want to create equitable change within a school district, and I think the school board is one way in which I could do that,” Morgan said. Morgan plans to attend the University of California, Berkeley in the fall to study Economics and Sociology.

Greg Abbott is the MSBA Director of Communications and Bruce Lombard is the MSBA Associate Director of Communications. You may contact them at gabbott@ mnmsba.org and blombard@mnmsba.org, respectively. Applications for the next MSBA Scholarship will be available in January 2022. Visit http://www.mnmsba.org/ MSBAScholarship for more information.