Like all school districts in Pennsylvania, Tyrone has a nine member democratically elected school board.  But come to a Tyrone School Board monthly meeting and you’ll likely see eleven people sitting at the front of the board room.

That’s because Tyrone school board has two unofficial student members, junior Adam Zook and senior Hope Wilson.

Both chose to apply for their positions to help make a difference in the school.

“I wanted to know more about what is going on at the school and I wanted to make a difference,” said senior representative Hope Wilson.

“I [chose to apply for the student board rep] because I wanted to give the students of Tyrone High School a voice,” said junior representative Adam Zook.

In addition to serving as student board representative, Zook is a member of the cross country team, mock trial, speech league and track and field team.  Wilson is also involved in soccer, band, mock trial, and track and field.

The responsibilities of the student board representatives are to attend the meetings year round and voice the opinion of the student body.

“The board is very interested in the student’s opinions on issues that affect them directly.  Students are able to voice their concerns and thoughts about how their school is being run,” said school board Vice President Brian Bressler.

The student board members are chosen from applications submitted to high school Principal Tom Yoder.

While the students are not voting members and they do not sit in on executive sessions when hiring or confidential student discipline decisions are discussed, they do attend all the public meetings and give input to the board members from a current student perspective.

“If students have concerns, they can bring them up to us and we can take them to the board,” said Zook.

“We tell the board the good things and bad things that are happening in the school and the board does its best to try to fix problems, ”said senior student representative Hope Wilson, “for example, last year we talked to them about the poor condition of the soccer and practice fields and they improved the situation a lot this year.”

“I think that the representatives show the school board positive progress and activities that students are doing within the school district.  I think that the school board is very receptive to what the students have to say,” says Jim Raabe, School Board member.