Newt Shosteck Meet the Student Representative to the School Board Newt Shosteck, a rising senior at Hayfield Secondary School, has been elected by the countywide Student Advisory Council (SAC) to serve a one-year term as student representative to the Fairfax County School Board, beginning July 1. Shosteck will participate in School Board meetings as a nonvoting member, succeeding Faith Mekonen, who recently graduated from South County High School. He will be the 56th student representative to the School Board. Shosteck has three main priorities as student representative: strengthening the Student Advisory Council while enhancing student representation in decision-making, reforming security policies, and improving mental health services for FCPS students. “On the issue of mental health, I would try to standardize a system of accessibility for school psychologists and social workers across the county. Ideally, students will be able to easily see the next time a social worker can speak with them in their student service center and sign up for a time slot without having to actively ask someone or have their parents notified,” Shosteck said. He added, “Considering many students struggle to self-advocate and tell other people that they need help, I believe this change would have the potential to help improve the mental health of many students.” To engage with students and get their feedback, Shosteck plans to meet with groups of high school students across the county and increase awareness of the student representative role. He also plans to create a contact form for students to share concerns they would like him to address and conduct surveys on specific policies. “I am honored to have been chosen for this position and will work day and night to prove myself to the 180,000 students of Fairfax County,” Shosteck added. “I will make myself as accessible as I can be, and I will dedicate all the work I do on the School Board to the future of FCPS. Not just for our high school students, but for our middle school and elementary school students as well.” Shosteck has served as the Franconia District Representative on the School Board Leadership Development Program and as president of the Hayfield High School Democrats. He also founded a political science website where he posts articles, manages a newsletter, and develops election forecasting models.