Jordan Senior Earns Student Board Member Role

The Long Beach Unified School District has selected Jordan High School senior Axel Aguilar to serve as the 2023-24 Student Board Member.

Aguilar was officially sworn in during the Board of Education meeting held Wednesday, Sept. 20. 

He will serve as the District’s second student representative following Frania Lopez, who served as LBUSD’s first student board member during the 2022-23 school year.

Aguilar is on track to become the valedictorian of Jordan High School’s Class of 2024 and has led several successful clubs on campus. 

He is enrolled in Jordan’s Aspirations in Medical Sciences (AIMS) Pathway and currently serves as the AIMS club president. The pathway strives to develop the next generation of patient care professionals through rigorous academics, community partnerships and hands-on training. 

Aguilar is also the founder and president of Jordan’s Tender Loving Care Club, which focuses on providing support for students with special needs, and the editor-in-chief of Jordan’s Yearbook Club.

“I wanted to be a student board member for LBUSD because I wanted to make a difference in my community,” Aguilar said during his introduction speech. “Growing up in Long Beach, I grew up around people from all walks of life.” 

“As a first-generation Mexican-American, I never saw much representation for first-generation students, and navigating the academic system was something that was foreign to me and my parents. However, through LBUSD’s commitment to equitable and excellent education, I was able to find my voice in the District, and it’s through this voice that I want to help all first-generation LBUSD students to a higher education,” Aguilar said.

During their term, the LBUSD student board member is invited to all Board functions and can attend all Board meetings, except for those held in closed session.

They receive all open-session materials, can participate in questions and discussions, or cast a “preferential vote” on all open-session items. However, their vote is considered a formal expression of opinion and does not count nor affect the Board’s official vote. 

Any LBUSD high school student body officer, class officer or club president can apply for the role. A qualifying club president must lead a club with a minimum of 30 student members to be eligible.

The District received over 30 student applications for the 2023-24 role. All six finalists were recognized during the Sept. 6 Board of Education meeting.