AURORA - Vista PEAK Prep junior Isabella Malloy was one of 16 high school student leaders from across the nation selected to serve on the second edition of the NFHS National Student Advisory Council (NSAC). The NSAC had their first meeting in Indianapolis in mid-April.
The student leaders on the NSAC will learn about – and share insight on – the different issues that impact students’ involvement in high school activity programs throughout the regions they represent. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) will also rely on the NSAC to help design and deliver components of the National Student Leadership Summit (NSLS).
“I wanted to do this because I’m considering a career in sports management and I think this is a great way to get involved,” Malloy said. “I think being on CHSAA state reps made me a little more comfortable with getting to know more people and being in these adult conversations; I’m more outgoing with talking to people more. But I would like to keep growing further in that category and just be able to step out of my comfort zone and have these bigger conversations.
“I want to be able to grow as a leader with my communications skills and my outreach and to get to be with more people and have a louder voice.”
Malloy is one of 16 student leaders, all sophomores or juniors involved in sports or performing arts at their schools, across the nation who will have the opportunity to make an impact nationally.
New Mexico’s Luke Boatman and Malloy will both represent Section 6, which consists of five states: Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. The two will be joined by Anvi Bose (Connecticut) and Sam Dowd (Vermont) from Section 1, Heaven Sneed (Ohio) and Mujeeb Waheed (Maryland) from Section 2, Josiah Smith (Georgia) and Sydney Daniel (Florida) from Section 3, Miriam Johnson (Illinois) and Linus Morrison (Iowa) from Section 4, Jamarcus Tyson (Kansas) and Evelyn Meyer (Nebraska) from Section 5, Nala Williams (Nevada) and Trey Lundeen (Nevada) from Section 7 and Avè Norby (Montana) and Kannon Walter (Oregon) from Section 8 on the national council.
“I’m excited to be able to work with my team to represent this whole group of people that we don’t even know yet,” Malloy stated. “Our main purpose will be to carry on the goal of the original group, which is to get every state to have some sort of state representation for students. The NFHS really wants to really hear student voices because that’s who they’re making the rules for; that’s who’s being affected by the things they put in place. So, I think getting more input from the states that don’t have state student boards will be important so that we have everybody’s perspective.”
The roles and responsibilities the NSAC will have will consist of things such as: determining and developing actions to gather insights on the experiences of high school students, identifying and communicating areas of support that may be needed from the NFHS and/or state associations, and identifying ways to increase student involvement in cocurricular activities.
“I had a great time at our first meeting,” Malloy said. “I was able to meet so many amazing leaders, and they’re all super cool. We all got really close, and we were all really comfortable together, which was a little surprising.
“I also met the CEO of the NFHS, and she kind of talked to us for a while about how important it was to be there. To see women in that role and being able to be so powerful in sports is really cool. It was really exciting to meet all of these cool people, and I think this is going to be a great opportunity for me to meet people and learn more about what goes on behind-the-scenes.”
In addition to the NSAC, the NFHS also provides programming and student leadership empowerment on the national stage through its annual National Student Leadership Summit, an inspiring and unforgettable experience that thousands of high school students have received since the first conference in 2000. The NSAC will play a role in organizing that summit and leading breakout rooms in mid-June.