From Sunrise to SBOE – Senior Anna Mayer Soars in Local Government

Photo Credit: Anna Mayer

For most SWW students, the DC State Board of Education (SBOE) seldom crosses their mind despite their role in keeping Walls and other DCPS schools running. For Anna Mayer (‘25), this is not the case. Mayer, appointed as a student representative for the SBOE, works behind the scenes on an array of education related issues, dedicating her evenings to discussing and voting on policies that affect DCPS schools.

On the first Wednesday of each month, Mayer attends a working session, where all of the representatives review resolutions and the plan for the month. The following Monday, Mayer attends a student advisory committee meeting, where the student representatives meet to discuss issues, vote on upcoming resolutions, and write a statement summarizing their opinion. The Tuesday after that, there are public meetings, where people go to testify about a range of pressing topics and present resolutions and the panel of representatives vote on whether or not to pass their resolutions. There are also committee meetings, where board members discuss how to improve student life and students’ enjoyment in school.

Mayer’s involvement in DC politics began over the summer, when she worked as a campaign intern for Ward 2 representative Allister Chang, which showed her “another lens of DC politics.” Mayer explained that “seeing that side, experiencing the education side as a DCPS student, and then talking to former State Board Representatives” inspired her to join the SBOE.

Mayer is also a co-founder of Wall’s Green New Deal for DCPS club, which is advocating to pass the Green New Deal for Schools, a resolution that will make DCPS more climate friendly. Last year, the club attended several public DC SBOE meetings to testify about passing the resolution, which provided another reason for Mayer joining. “I signed up because of the Green New Deal for Schools and how positive my experience with the School Board was.” Testifying in front of the SBOE made Mayer realize that “one of my favorite things to do is talk to people about what I am passionate about, and I am very, very passionate about public education.” She added that joining the SBOE gave her “the opportunity to just talk to people about public education all the time, which is amazing.”

In order to apply, Mayer filled out an application about her demographics and why she wanted to join. They reached out three months later to let her know that she was accepted. Out of an unknown number of applicants, she was one of four people to be selected, not including two alternates.

Last year, Walls alumni Ben Yarkin (‘24) served as the student representative on the DC SBOE. Mayer remembers testifying in front of him for the Green New Deal for Schools, which “felt good[…] because [it felt like you] are on the same level as the people you’re talking to, [which] is something that is difficult to feel when you’re talking to just adults.” Mayer is excited to carry on Yarkin’s legacy, sharing that Brady Woodhouse (‘25) “came to testify about the nursing resolution that he wrote.” She added that “[it] felt great to have a student testify before me because I felt like I could do my best to propel the interest and the initiatives of fellow Walls students."

During her time at the SBOE, Mayer’s goal is to “engage with the student body [at Walls] and across the city… and find what students care the most about.” Mayer explained that finding what students want is important because “we as Americans are so used to politicians not actually advocating for what the people want.”

In addition to being a student representative for the SBOE, Mayer also works at a preschool and teaches a knitting class. The workload is challenging, but Mayer explained that “it’ll be easier for you to do hard, time consuming [extracurriculars] if you really care about them.” Mayer also advised to “give yourself a break, you don’t have to be doing 100 things to feel fulfilled.”

Mayer, reflecting on her time thus far with the SBOE remarked that she has “found a lot of joy and fulfillment from participating in DC government… and genuinely making changes.” She added that “the more I work with the state board… the more I think that education and education policy is a career that I want to go into.” The next SBOE meeting is on October 15. “I, from the bottom of my heart, encourage every student at Walls to come to State Board meetings… I know that’s a big commitment, so come talk to me about your issues because I promise I will do something about them.”