11th-grader applies for state position
He’d like to become president of the United States, but first things first. Nicolas Jaber, a Newport Harbor High School junior, wants to be the California State Board of Education’s next student representative.
Jaber, who sits on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education in a similar capacity, applied for the statewide position last week.
He said he expects to hear back in a few days on whether he’ll make the final cut to be in a pool of 12 semifinalists, each of whom are to meet Nov. 6 to 10 for a conference in Sacramento.
He’s the first student within the district to apply for the position in six years.
In his application, one of the questions posed by the state board was what Jaber thought was one of the more pressing issues of the day in K-12 public education.
His answer was too many large class sizes — the result of more and more teachers getting laid off across California due to fiscal woes in Sacramento.
“It is no surprise that I constantly see a rise in the number of unengaged students present in my overcrowded classes than in more modestly sized classes,” he wrote in his response. “While it is not the duty of educators to miraculously get students to love learning, it is the duty of educators to provide these students with the best learning environment possible. Hence, it is imperative that class sizes be limited — with a more intimate scholastic environment comes a more personal, hands-on learning experience for students.”
In a follow-up interview, he explained that he wanted to make sure students had the best opportunity to learn in an era where budgets cuts are increasing the sizes of California classrooms.
“We need to try and keep them down,” Jaber said. “Students are getting bogged up. When you have 40 kids in an AP history class, it’s hard to focus.”
The application also asked why Jaber was interested in serving the state board.
“Steve Jobs once said, ‘People with passion can change the world for the better,’” he wrote. “I have a great passion … to engage in politics and in the betterment of public education.”
He indeed has a passion for learning. Jaber has seven classes, five of which are subjects in the International Baccaulerate program, something he jokingly referred to as “AP classes on steroids.”
Judy Franco, a school board member for 30 years, said she thinks Jaber would make an excellent addition to the state board, and that board members in Sacramento would learn a thing or two from hearing the perspective of a student.
“I think he’s very bright, very well organized, and I think he would make an excellent student board member,” she said. “He’s very verbal. I support him whole heartedly.”
Jaber is also in the midst of preparing for his SATs, and would like to attend Harvard University, although he said any Ivy League school will do.
He said he wants to get into politics and college-name recognition often plays a role in the first steps to paving that path. He noted, however, that what’s most important is what a student accomplishes while in college that creates future success, not necessarily the school attended.
“Look at Richard Nixon,” Jaber said. “I’m not even sure where he went to college, but I know it wasn’t that well known, or I’d be able to tell you.”
For those keeping score, Nixon attended Whittier College.
When Jaber isn’t contemplating a run for some sort of office or appointed position, he’s busying himself these days with creating a social networking site. He said he hopes to launch it in the coming months.
Although he kept much of the technology under wraps, he said he hopes it will rival Facebook.
“People are thirsty for more valuable networking,” he said.