New Braunfels – A New Braunfels ISD senior hopes to win a seat on the school board in the May election to help support her teachers and peers.
Falon Cochran, 18, comes from a family of educators. She wants to be a teacher, but for now, the New Braunfels senior is the youngest person to file for a school board seat in her community in recent history.
From her perspective as a student, she feels educators need more mental health support.
“Younger people are getting more understood and showing that they actually have ideas and they know how to make changes,” Cochran said.
She’s not alone in her pursuit to make positive change. Kay Douglas, a senior consultant with the Texas Association of School Boards, said teens have run for board positions for years, but it’s happening more often these days.
“We actively are trying to get them to advocate for themselves,” Douglas explains. “We used to say that they were the voice of the future. They’re the present. They don’t have to wait until they’re 30 or 40 or 50 to serve on the board because we need their voices now.”
Edgewood ISD elected senior Michael Valdez to serve on the board. A Claude ISD student near Amarillo beat out others as a write-in candidate to serve on the board.
Douglas warns that serving on the board takes time and maturity.
“They should be prepared to listen to the community because they really are the voice of the community,” she said. “They should be prepared to deal with issues where they may not be able to tell people the whole story because there are laws that say that certain things are confidential. So they should be prepared to participate, but to know what the rules are for participation.”
To run for school board, a candidate must be 18 years old when they take office, a US Citizen, and have lived in the district they want to represent for six months and in Texas for 12 months.
Cochran will be facing off against Kimberly Goodwin, an audit manager and former educator Bill Lewis.
Lewis sent KSAT the following statement:
“I celebrate the fact that several from our community are willing to devote their time and talents to affirm and celebrate public education through civic engagement.”
Goodwin, an at-large trustee for NBISD, sent KSAT the following statement:
“As a trustee at large, my heart, soul and mind will serve all parents, children and teachers in NBISD. I will strive to help provide a secure environment and empower the students and teachers to reach their full capabilities. I encourage all young people to become active in their community. As a parent, I am raising my elementary-aged daughters to do the same. I want ALL children in the entire district to know the value of giving back to the community.”