Serving 175,000 Students: Ahryanna Mcgurik on Board of Education Job

Former Kalaheo Student Council President, Ahryanna McGuirk,  a senior at Kalaheo, now holds an even bigger role. She is the 2023-2024 Student Member for the Hawai’i State Board of Education, representing 175,000+ public and charter school students in grades K-12 statewide. After a nine-year career in Student Council - starting in elementary school - Ahryanna has worked her way up to this position and truly shown that hard work and dedication can take you anywhere you want. Leading up to the Board of Education came AP classes, varsity volleyball, pilot training, establishing the official Kalaheo Athletics social media, serving on the statewide youth leadership council for Make-A-Wish Hawai’i, founding the Wish Club at Kalaheo, and being selected as a fellow in the Center for Tomorrow’s Leaders advanced leadership program. But it doesn’t stop there. Ahryanna was the alternate delegate for the 2022 United States Senate Youth Program, a semifinalist for the National Security Language Initiative for Youth, selected to attend the United States Air Force Academy Summer Seminar, and has received various awards such as the Pearl Harbor Aviation Pathways Scholarship, which provides $10,000 dollars and a structured mentorship program for her to obtain her private pilot’s license by the end of high school. 

And on top of all of this, she has maintained an unweighted 4.0 for the entirety of her high school journey thus far. There is no doubt that with a resume like this comes sleepless nights and sacrifice. Despite all of her responsibilities, Ahryanna makes sure to prioritize her down time. “I’m not a machine; I always schedule my fun first. I think it’s important we prioritize filling our own cup so it can overflow into the other things we do, instead of giving, giving, giving and emptying out.”  In addition to her other endeavors, Ahryanna continues to serve on the Hawaii State and Windward District student councils. It was July of 2023 that Ahryanna started her term as BOE Student Member. When asked why she applied for her position on the Board, Ahryanna stated that she desired more. “I wanted to personally challenge myself by serving in a state position and utilizing the experience I had from past years in student council. Applying for the BOE position meant that I had to risk not running for an officer position at Kalaheo for my senior year, but the risk paid off. If I hadn’t been appointed, I wouldn’t have been in Student Council at all.”

“Being the only student on the board with members who are all adults is empowering. It shows that student voice truly is valued, and it should be, especially when creating policies that directly affect us. This position requires a lot of communication with students and stakeholders in the DOE. All students come from different communities, but I don't think that us having different backgrounds and opinions is an obstacle. I embrace it because it enables us to incorporate diverse and divergent ideas into our solutions, which can then help more people,” she passionately described. Despite her lengthy resume, even Ahryanna felt intimidated and under qualified to apply for the job. She gives advice to anyone who feels their goals and dreams are too big.  "NEVER be the one to say no to yourself. Just try, and let others say no to you. Yes, it’s hard to keep getting back up again when you fall short. But it’s harder to live with the regret of giving up on yourself. Choose your hard. I recommend you choose the one that has the potential of reward," she explained.

While one may think that being representative of the Board of Education requires a facet of prerequisite achievements, Ahryanna dispels this belief while giving insight into the application process. “Any junior or senior enrolled in a DOE school can apply for the Board of Education Student Member position. 

No student council experience is technically required, though leadership experience certainly helps. It’s not disclosed how many people apply, but since there are no definitive requirements other than your grade level, the applicant pool could be pretty large. The first round is a paper application with essays, transcript, and recommendations. From there, candidates are chosen for interviews conducted by the executive officers on the Hawai’i State Student Council.  Then there is an excruciating waiting period that lasts until the appointment is revealed,” Ahryanna stated. Finally she touched on one of her hopes as rep, which specifically anchors her own school, Kalaheo.  “I want to see more students proud of the fact that they attend Kalaheo High School.  We have so many great offerings and people to celebrate, programs to celebrate, and I think sometimes we focus on the negative and forget to remember we have so much to be proud of. I hope that this year with it being our 50th anniversary, and from now on, we’re able to see that school pride increases from year to year. We have so much to be proud of.”