Dear community member,
It’s been a big week for student leadership in our school community.
Yesterday I was thrilled to swear in Ruben Marcus (pictured), as Student Trustee on the Santa Cruz County Board of Education.
A senior at Soquel High School, Ruben has been involved as a student leader in numerous extracurricular programs, including the countywide Multilingual Youth Taking Action and working with the COE’s Math Coordinator to organize and facilitate county-wide math festivals and contests for young students. He is trilingual, speaking Spanish and French in addition to English, and is founder and president of the Soquel High Philosophy Club, co-founder and president of the school’s Computer Science Club, as well as an accomplished pianist and percussionist in several clubs and bands.
Ruben shared he hopes to advocate for equitable educational opportunities and support systems for all students, particularly for low-income and minority students: “I strongly believe in the freedom to pursue knowledge and ensuring that everyone has access to the resources they need to succeed,” he says.
Ruben became the second student trustee ever appointed to the County Board of Education, following in the footsteps of Pajaro Valley High’s Oscar Alvarez-Delgado.
And the Board is continuing to expand its emphasis on student representation. In a historic first, the Board voted yesterday to appoint a second student trustee to represent the unique needs of students in our county’s alternative education programs: Oasis High senior Natalie Hofkins.
Natalie will be sworn in at the Board’s next meeting on November 21, and I look forward to getting to know her and sharing more about her and her goals as a student leader soon.
It could not have been more appropriate that the motion to appoint Natalie was made by Ruben — his first motion after being seated on the board.
Yours in education and equity,
Dr. Faris Sabbah
County Superintendent of Schools