Valencia High School senior Maya Yiadom said she wants to empower her fellow students.
As the representative for the William S. Hart Union High School District’s student body on the governing board, Yiadom said she hopes she can be a voice for students when it comes to making choices that affect them.
“I really want to bring the student aspect to the board,” Yiadom said in a phone interview, “so that the board members and everyone who attends the meetings can get a better grasp of how students are feeling about certain policies or things that are going on at school.”
Front and center for Yiadom is a greater emphasis on addressing mental health concerns.
“I definitely think that students this year, we should definitely try to push for more mental health resources and just more ways that our staff and our administration can be involved in aiding the mental health of students on campus,” she said.
And that’s not the only topic that students might have opinions on. Yiadom also mentioned the district wanting to adopt a cell phone policy for the high schools that is currently in place at junior highs. Students at junior highs in the district must have their cell phones off and in their backpacks during the school day.
Hart High and Canyon High have implemented variations of that policy for this year as district officials and the board seek to gain more information on how it will work with older students.
Yiadom said she wants students to feel like their voices will be heard if they attend meetings to speak on those topics, or any others that come up as issues throughout the school year.
“Although I’m the elected board member, I think it’s also important to hear what other people have to say,” Yiadom said. “So, definitely trying to get representatives from different schools to come and speak at the meetings is something that I really want to try to coordinate this year.”
A member of the Valencia girls’ lacrosse team, Yiadom said she got into student government when she was in seventh grade at Rio Norte Junior High. She applied to be part of the Associated Student Body because she said she enjoys being behind the scenes and planning school events.
And her passion for politics likely won’t stop at the high school level, she said. Hoping to study political science in college, Yiadom said she’s considering UCLA, UC Berkeley, Barnard College and Columbia University, with plans to get into the policy side of politics.
“I really think that politics is interesting because you’re creating policy that impacts millions of people’s lives,” Yiadom said. “And I really just want to be a part of something that can make active change, rather than just be passive. I really want to implement policy, because I want to go into the policy side of politics, that will help people, and I feel as though policymaking is one of the best ways to do that.”
According to interim Superintendent Michael Vierra, Yiadom has been involved in student government at Valencia through the Black Student Union and ASB. She was elected as the student board member by the Student Communication Council.
“She’s known as being very dedicated to the development of programs on campus and a very deep commitment for her school and general community in Santa Clarita,” Vierra said.
