Mount Si student joins school board
July 20, 2011
By Sebastian Moraga
She acts, and this is a pretty big role. She sings, and she pledges to bring a new voice.
She swims, and she’s jumping in a pool with some pretty big fish.
Taylor Pearlstein will represent the students of the Snoqualmie Valley School District starting in September, as the school board’s newest student rep.
Pearlstein is an incoming junior at Mount Si High School, a lifeguard at the Si View pool, and an actor and singer in plays and musicals at her school.
“I always try to be as involved as I can,” she said. “Leadership has been something that has always interested me.”
Once on board, Pearlstein said she wants to bring a new outlook on school issues.
“I want to bring a perspective that has not been brought before,” she said, “a voice that has not been heard.”
The school board and the community, she said, sometimes do not have a full understanding of what the schools or the students try to do.
For example, she said, the Day of Silence requires long hours of preparation and students try hard to be respectful.
“It’s important that the board knows about what we do and that we do a lot to help those causes, so they are not in the dark,” she said.
Besides the Day of Silence, Pearlstein has participated in three plays, one musical, the school’s gay-straight alliance, Natural Helpers and the school’s chapter of Amnesty International.
“Those are a lot of the groups that a lot of times aren’t considered,” she said. “I thought it would be nice to offer that perspective.”
Pearlstein’s fellow student rep will be incoming senior Chace Carlson, who will serve for the second consecutive year.
“We’re excited to work together,” Pearlstein said. “I’ve worked with him before and we will make a really good team.”
Snoqualmie Valley Schools Superintendent Joel Aune said the board will be lucky to have Pearlstein.
“She is impressive,” he said.
Aune said Pearlstein wowed the group by showing up in a business suit, on time and early in the morning, although school had been out for days already.
He joked, comparing that to what other students were doing the same day at that hour.
Pearlstein said she felt the interviews for the post were fun but intimidating, given who was asking the questions.
“Those were the superintendent and the school board members,” she said.
Now that the spot belongs to her, Pearlstein said she wants her work for the next two years to benefit all students.
She said the decision to apply for the post was hers alone. Jonathan Pearlstein, board member of the Snoqualmie Valley School Foundation and Taylor’s dad, said her family advised her to consider whether she was overextending herself.
“But we’re very dedicated to the school district,” said Jonathan, whose wife is a secretary at Snoqualmie Elementary School, “so if she were to seek this opportunity and receive it, we would be very proud of her, and as it turned out, we are very proud of her.”
Taylor, Jonathan said, “has taken her new role to heart. She understands that the responsibility for public education lies in the community and she chooses to take part in that.”
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