Student group unites district through community service

By Karthik Mayilvahanan | Editor in Chief

Students United for the Representation of the Fremont Board of Education (SURF BoardE) is a body of 15 students representing each of the five high schools in FUSD. The group was set up as a link between the Board of Education and the student bodies at each school.

“Whenever an issue arises there and the Superintendent wants our opinion on it, he comes and asks us about it,” said Irvington High School representative, junior Narvan Babaei. Babaei recalls that the Superintendent recently consulted the SURF BoardE regarding AEDs, devices that allow for an immediate response if a student has a seizure.

Babaei stresses that the SURF BoardE gives students of the five high schools an opportunity to unify through community service. “Doing service events at the district level gives students at each school something to work together for,” said Babaei. “Unity between the 5 high schools is important because we often don’t focus on that and it’s good to forget about rivalries and remember that we’re all around the same age doing the same things.” Currently, SURF BoardE is holding a Get Well Soon Card Drive for patients at the Oakland Children’s Hospital.

One of the main annual events planned by the SURF BoardE is the District Representative Conference (DRC). “DRC is basically a smaller version of the annual League of Leaders conference that all ASB members go to the year before they take office,” explained Babaei. “DRC focuses on training elementary school leadership members for high school leadership.”

According to fellow representative, senior Alyssa Tucker, the last DRC included over 100 elementary school and junior high school leaders. “The purpose of this event is to instill core leadership values and train the young leaders of tomorrow,” said Tucker. “SURF hopes that by the end of the conference, students will be more prepared for the rigors of leadership in high school and beyond.”

Both Tucker and Babaei look forward to hosting the DRC at John F. Kennedy High School on March 25th.