Cougar Conversations: Liliana Mastrangelo and Marcus Haffner, Student BOE Representatives

As student representatives to the North Rose-Wolcott Board of Education, Liliana Mastrangelo and Marcus Haffner share their perspective and work to make sure students feel heard at school.

Lily and Marcus, both seniors, are the first students to serve in this role at NRW. It was a natural fit – both have been involved in student government, Lily is the president of the Class of 2026, and Marcus served last year on the district’s Strategic Action Plan committee. “Seeing the more administrative side of making everything work and the objectives of the district was really interesting to me,” Marcus said.

During board meetings, Lily and Marcus discuss recent events at school with board members and provide the student perspective on various issues. They’ve worked to ensure students can share their own concerns and thoughts through them. Any student can reach Lily and Marcus through a dedicated email address, and soon they will be able to use an app to provide their feedback as well. “Our purpose is to be representatives of the entire student population,” Marcus said.

Both students say they’ve learned more about governance and district operations while serving on the board. “Just being at the forums where they discuss the direction that they want the district to go, future growth plans, capital project plans – I’ve learned a lot more about the day-to-day work of keeping a school district going and what that takes,” Marcus said.

“It’s a really interesting perspective to be on that side of things, learning how to balance different opinions, different outlooks on different situations, making sure everyone feels like their voice is really heard, but doing what is best for the school while making everybody happy,” Lily said.

Both students plan to attend college after graduation. Marcus will first go on a two-year mission in New Zealand before returning to study accounting or finance at Brigham Young University. Lily is still deciding which college to attend, but wants to pursue a degree in public policy and political science on a pre-law track.

Lily hopes more students choose to become involved as a board representative in the future. “I think this is an amazing opportunity going forward for people to get involved,” she said. “I think it’s a great idea to get a student perspective onto the board where the executive decisions are being made so not only students, but the community know that they are being heard.”

Marcus added, “I hope we can grow that role and be a role model for future student board reps to continue and improve on what we’ve done.”