HUDSON- After years of dedication and involvement in Hudson High, senior Isabella “Izzy” Chamberlain has been elected as the Student Representative on the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).
With a passion for representing others by voting on new policies and advocating for Massachusetts, this board position is right up Chamberlain’s alley.
Chamberlain’s eagerness to lead was not the only thing motivating her to run for this position. The former Student Representative to BESE, Ioannis (“Yiannis”) Asikis was a role model to her, and she hopes to follow in his footsteps.
“He’s very confident and kept to himself. Seeing him doing well in the role that I wanted kind of inspired me to actually run for the position,” Chamberlain said.
The road to the BESE position was one that she’s been working towards since her Sophomore year. Chamberlain first had to hold a leadership position in the Central Massachusetts Student Advisory Council, where she held the position as Co-Chair. She reflected on the process of getting voted into the position this year.
“They sent out questions and you had to answer, and then they compiled all the candidates and their answers to the questions.”
Chamberlain explained how the answers to their questions were sent out to the regional council and then they had the vote over a Zoom meeting.
The state election was very competitive with five high school candidates running for the position across the entire state.
“I was just nervous going into it. I obviously tried not to show it, but I really wanted the position. And when you’re not sure if you’re going to get it, it’s obviously nerve wracking.”
Chamberlain was able to beat all four other candidates during a competitive election. However, the path to victory wasn’t clear cut; she faced discouragement from some of the other candidates. Chamberlain noted that she received text messages from other candidates, who boasted about how confident they were in receiving more votes since they already knew others on the Council.
But, she didn’t let this dirty politics stop her, even saying “If anything, that was just more of a motivation for me, you know? It told me, he’s nervous. I’m still going to run and I’m going to win.”
And she did win. During the first BESE meeting, Chamberlain strictly observed and listened to learn how things worked.
“I didn’t say much during this meeting. I purposefully did that, just to kind of get a sense of how these meetings run. When should I be speaking up? When should I not be speaking up? I was really taking note of how many times each person at the table spoke and who didn’t speak.”
Chamberlain is especially interested in topics about mental health, literacy, and equity in education. Her multitudinous extracurricular activities and leadership positions at the high school all align to this. For her Civic Action Project (CAP) she is working with a group of third graders to boost literacy across the district. For UNESCO, she is part of the group working on mindfulness strategies.
“I’m very passionate about student stress, particularly in mental health.”
Chamberlain hopes to inspire other students to share their voice and become more involved. She is a prime example of how hard work and facing your fears can open doors to new opportunities that would have never been possible before.
“If there’s anything that interests you, like, just do it. Just try it. Because like I said, if you lose, you lose. But like, it’s better to look back on it and say, I tried than, like, didn’t do anything,” she said.
