Kenneth Adah sworn in as school board student representative

Bloomington Public Schools’ two school board student representatives for the 2023-24 school year are Jefferson senior, Dhruvika Uppal, and Kennedy junior, Kenneth Adah. They attended their first board meeting on September 25 where they were officially sworn in as student representatives.

Student representatives are non-voting members of the school board. They attend board meetings once a month to provide reports about school activities and participate in discussion of board agenda items. 

“I wanted to become a student representative on the board because ever since I was little, I always wanted to make some type of change in the world. Having a student that lives that life every day that we’re making the change for, I feel is very important to have in these discussions,” said Adah.

“As a student representative, I hope to represent the voice of the student body to the school board this year,” said Dhruvika. “I hope to enhance my understanding of the school board policies and I hope to use that knowledge to bridge the gap between the students and the staff.”

“I really like that Kennedy is very diverse and the staff is starting to represent the student body more and more every year. I hope to really highlight that as a positive to the school board,” said Adah.

“I’m really looking forward to interacting with professional adults and hoping to gain more exposure and use this knowledge to improve my leadership and communication skills,” said Uppal.

Uppal and Adah were both on the district’s strategic planning team late last year, which led to a new mission, vision, five goals and 10 strategies. Each student is active in clubs and activities at their schools too.

Uppal is the president of the Jefferson student council and National Honor Society, and is involved in DECA, the Pathfinders high school transition program for incoming freshmen, and a club called the Beautification Project she created to help with staffing shortages at Jefferson.

Adah is involved in National Honor Society, plays basketball for Kennedy, and is looking to get more involved in student government this year.