Maine Youth Action Network

Maine State Board of Education Youth Involvement Initiative

Back to Home 

Congratulations to the first two youth members of the State Board of Education!

  • Honor Wilkinson, an upcoming Junior from Calais High School, and Justin Chenette, an upcoming Senior from Thornton Academy in Saco, will be joining the board in April! Honor & Justin were selected from a competitive group of approximately 50 applicants, and recommended for confirmation by the Joint Committee on Education & Cultural affairs on Thursday, April 3rd. They will be confirmed by the Senate on Monday morning, April 7th.

  • Check out this WCSH6 report from the April 3rd proceedings! 

  • Check out pictures from confirmation hearings.

  • More information coming soon about how YOU can communicate with Honor & Justin to get your voice represented at the state level, and about how Honor & Justin will report back out about their experience.

What is the Maine State Board of Education?

The Maine State Board of Education:

  • Works collaboratively with the Commissioner and Department of Education on a variety of issues from the qualification of Maine teachers, to approving school construction to ensuring up-to-date technology in Maine schools.
  • Its mission is: “to provide statewide leadership by advocating, promoting and improving education policy and life-long learning for all Maine people, particularly its children." 

Getting Youth Involved: How the Idea of Youth on the State Board Got Rolling

The desire to have youth on the Maine State Board of Education (BOE) started several years ago and like a lot of things, it took time to transform this from an idea into a reality. Adults on the State Board of Education and other supporters worked with local youth to create a legislative proposal to turn the idea of having two youth on the Maine State BOE into Maine law. The State BOE endorsed the idea and Senator Libby Mitchell sponsored a bill. Other legislators advocated for this bill, such as Representative David Farrington, who submitted the bill in the House.  After moving through the proper channels, LD 151 was voted into law in 2006. 

The Board has partnered with MYAN to accomplish the two overarching goals of appointing two youth to the BOE and creating systems to support youth involvement in educational policy making in the future. MYAN will work with both the youth appointed to the board and will work with youth throughout the state of Maine to encourage youth voice and participation in educational policy at all levels. 

The current goal is to have two students--a junior and a senior, each representing one of the two Congressional districts in Maine--appointed in early 2008 by the Governor to serve on the State Board of Education. Each year afterwards, a junior high school student will join the Board for a two-year term. Except for vote, students members will have full privileges and responsibilities of membership.