On Feb 8, Roseville Community Schools hosted the 2016 Mock School Board which several RHS seniors participated in. This event led students to explore and become familiar with Roseville’s school board, as well as gave them a chance to award teachers that have made an impact in their lives.

In the beginning, students Eryn VanderVlucht, Brenden Shiemke, Rachel Weldon, Constance Birchall, Amari Trayler, Zachary Mroz, Evan Gates, Zak Carik, Shawna Brandt, Leah Ferrante, Amna Lodhi, Artines Anderson, Morgan Barbret, Elandra Sledge, Madison Meatte, Josh Kovach, Triston Sparks, and Taylor Mcullum, participated in a mock school board meeting that represented the actual school board members in which they were assigned to at the beginning of the day. They discussed issues, such as bullying, school lunches, health, and athletics that would be addressed in an actual meeting.

Prior to the event, the selected students participated in an election where they campaigned for their positions. The selected seniors soon found themselves having lunch with their community’s school officials, and were later exposed to the hard work and dedication done behind the scenes.

“Today was a good learning experience, we all got to see how the school board worked,” Triston Sparks said.

Towards the end of the meeting, the students honored certain teachers with words of thanks and a plaque made specifically for them.

Evan Gates, who represented the superintendent honored Harold Penn. “He greatly impacted not just me as a football player, but the entire Roseville football program. He always pushed us to the max and he did all he could to make me the best football player possible. He truly cares about the kids and will do anything he can to make sure each student works hard and sees results from their hard work,” Gates said.

It was very emotional, having touched both teachers and their former students.

Eryn VanderVlucht who represented the Supervisor of Food Service honored Jessica Hansen. “I chose to honor Mrs. Hansen because not only is she my softball coach but she’s also my mentor and my friend. She’s always there for me at a moment of weakness and is supporting me at my best on and off the field. She’s the one who drives me to reach my aspirations,” VanderVlucht said.