Saline High School Senior Named Student Representative on Board of Education

The Saline Area Schools Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve high school senior Emily Cohen as their new student representative for the current academic year.

Cohen joined the board inside the newly-renovated chambers at Liberty School. She said taking part in her first meeting on the other side of the table was quite interesting.

"I think it's really cool," she said. "I like seeing the mix of student issues, but also the issues that affect our community as a whole."

As far as ambitions for her new post, Cohen said one of her initial goals is to support programs that ensure all of her fellow students are emotionally well.

"I would say one really big focus point, which I know they actually touched on tonight, would be mental health of students," she said. "I think in Saline we have this perception of really academically and athletically strong students but the part of being emotionally strong and healthy is really important, too."

Cohen's initial interest in board proceedings was piqued by several factors, she said.

"Mainly, two things. The first one is I got involved with coming to these meetings last year. It was part of a requirement for my AP government class to come and listen in on some of these," she said. "I really gained an interest for what these meetings can provide, realizing they are making decisions for the students, and students need to be present to have a voice in those decisions."

The second bit of inspiration came to her over break, Cohen said.

"I also attended Girls State this past summer, which is a group of about 300 girls from Michigan, and it was all about getting involved in your local government and understanding what's going on," she said. "It kind of led me to pursue my interest in wanting to be a student rep."

Cohen said the application scenario to get the gig was a multi-tiered process.

"We wrote a letter, which we gave to Mr. (Principal David) Raft, just explaining why we want to do it and what we think we can provide," she said. "Then I had an interview with Mr. Raft and Mrs. (Assistant Principal Therea) Stager, just asking about things we can bring to the table, and I then had another interview with Mr. (Assistant Superintendent Steve) Laastch and we just found out."

Cohen said, academically, she has enjoyed English classes most of all over the years, but is considering pursuing a career in either psychology or social work once her time in Saline schools concludes.

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