Preston High School senior Margot Cerbone and junior Colson Manko were recently appointed as student members to the Preston County Board of Education. Cerbone and Manko were selected from a total of five submitted applications. Applications were reviewed and the students were interviewed by a team of PHS administrators and teachers.
For Cerbone joining the board is another commitment to her lengthy list. She is no stranger to extra-curricular activities beyond the classroom. Cerbone is a member of the varsity soccer and track teams, serves as senior class president, and president of the Interact Club; she is also a Preston County Teen Leader and a member of the Lenox Loyal Workers 4-H Club. Additionally, Cerbone is a national merit scholarship finalist, a national 4-H congress WV delegate, she attended the Governor’s School of the Arts, received the Rosemary Hauser Spirit of Education award, and is TELC certified B2 in German fluency. Cerbone said, “I want to be more involved and aware of the educational policies in my county. I want to play an active role in bringing my peers’ issues to light and getting them addressed.” While Cerbone isn’t sure national or international politics will play a part in her future, she is considering local leadership post college and law school.
Cerbone would like to see more student and teacher interaction. “I want to get students from every age group to have a more active role in their education,” said Cerbone. “I have learned about the standardized testing processes and budget from the meetings so far, and I have also learned about the measurements used for student growth. A lot of the student body is unaware of how they are being measured and on what scale.” Cerbone wants to see students, administrators, and teachers working together to make changes that will positively impact the county.
Cerbone’s counterpart, Colson Manko, agrees. He said, the decision to be involved as a student board member just made sense to him. Manko continued, “I know where we can improve and where we lack and where the lack of communication comes in.”
Manko is also very involved in school beyond serving as a board member. He said he’s desired to serve in this position since his sophomore year when he first heard about it. “I said that’s what I want to do! I like being involved. I like making a difference. That’s me. I like to talk to people. I like to impact people’s lives. I like to do things. I like to be involved in things. And that’s one reason I got the position… because I am involved,” said Manko.
Manko joked that what he’s learned most from the meetings so far is that they are long, but he quickly continued, “I enjoy them. I haven’t left a meeting yet feeling regret…I’ve learned a lot about the way it runs, the voting process, and how it is a system of a lot of checks and balances keep everything together.” What Manko wants to share with the public is that “sometimes people are under the impression that there’s not a lot of communication just because we don’t see what’s behind the scenes all the time at the board meeting, but going to board meetings and seeing it you can see there is that trying of communication, but the plan doesn’t always work. It’s good to see that there are plans in progress and processes in place.” Manko said everyone wants to have “thoughts and ideas [about how things should work] but they don’t naturally know what goes into it every day.” Serving on the board gives him insight that he hopes to share with his classmates.
Outside of school and serving as a board member, Manko is president of the Interact Club, president of prom, junior class vice president, involved in student government, and participated in the Science Olympiad. He’s also received the honor of attending the John Hopkins Global Health Leadership Conference and participated in the science fair this past spring at the state level. For Manko’s future, he knows he wants to attend college and is considering becoming a physician’s assistant as well as obtaining his real estate license. Manko is also hoping to serve on the board of education next year as well, during his senior year. “I want to be able to make an impact where I can, especially in the school system. We need to make change not just for ourselves, but the student body as a whole,” concluded Manko.
Cerbone and Manko have grown up together and Manko knows they “have each other’s back” when it comes to sharing their opinions. “We balance each other off. One thing that is important to me is that if I say something, I know that even if all the board members don’t agree, Margot is going to back me up. And the same thing for her, I will back her up. It’s a nice thing to have that other person on the board that is going to back you up.” Manko said he also sees that camaraderie among the board members. “While they banter back and forth, they do support and listen to one another,” Manko said. For both students serving on the board is already enlightening and demonstrating our county is committed to making positive educational change.
Cerbone and Manko’s next board meeting will be at Aurora School on Monday, October 23, 2023. The public is welcome to attend board meetings or to tune in to the live stream at https://live.myvrspot.com/player?udi=cHJlc3Rvbg%3D%3D&c=Y2hhbm5lbDE%3D.
[Note: Manko would like to thank his family (his driving focus) and all his teachers because “at the end of the day, I am not doing this completely for me,” said Manko.]