Kalani High School senior Mia Nishiguchi serves as the student representative on the Hawaiʻi Board of Education for the 2025-26 school year. While the student rep is a non-voting member, the position comes with the same responsibilities as other appointed BOE members and offers a student perspective for the entity charged with formulating education policy for the state. The role requires a strong understanding of student issues and the ability to represent all public schools in Hawaiʻi.

Driven by environmental justice and health education advocacy, Nishiguchi aspires to make a positive impact, both statewide and internationally. As a youth policy leader for the Climate Future Forum, she organizes youth events at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol. Nishiguchi also founded the Hawaiʻi chapter of Youth Climate Save, an international youth movement dedicated to promoting environmental awareness and action. Through this organization, she has connected with students worldwide and created digital content to further their mission.

除了環保倡導工作外，西荻口亦熱衷於健康教育。她同時擔任「Make-A-Wish Foundation」和「Breast Cancer Hawaiʻi」的青年領袖。她獲得了乳癌教育認證，並共同組織了一場公共資源展覽，以支援社區。.

Over the summer we caught up with Nishiguchi, who shared with us her goals as the BOE student representative and her vision for Hawaiʻi’s public school students.

Q：您為什麼覺得自己適合擔任這個職務？
A: I think the (Hawaiʻi State Student Council) really took my experience (into account) prior to even applying to the BOE. They took how I was already fighting for public school students across the state. Maybe it was because of my resolution that I did last session to instill a Climate Week within all DOE schools across the state–I guess that really just set a precedent for my commitment to serving students.

Q: What made you want to pursue the role as the Student Representative of the Board of Education?
A: I’ve known about this role for a while now. Two of my other siblings go to private schools. I feel like especially because I’m involved in all of these areas that I care about–such as climate change, food systems, and human rights–I just felt like it was a really good opportunity to share my voice and create more relationships with students all across the state. I’m definitely very honored to have this voice and have this role. 

Q: How do you feel about being the first Kalani High School student that is going to be taking this role as Student Representative for the Board of Education?
A: 這個角色絕對是重大的角色，我很榮幸能成為卡拉尼高中的第一位代表。我想應該會越來越多學校能有這樣的機會，我們應該讓更多沒有代表參加學校委員會的學校加入到委員會中。這真是太棒了，我希望能激勵更多人，特別是卡拉尼高中的人，讓他們考慮申請或參與其中。. 

Q: What issues do you think students are most impacted by today? And how are you going to advocate for these things?
A: One is financial aid. Especially with everything happening in Washington, D.C., and higher level government that maybe we can’t control here in Hawaiʻi but it’s definitely going to impact a student’s opportunity to pursue education in the future and that’s something that we should all be concerned about. Something else is definitely climate change as well. We’ve seen the Lahaina wildfires and sea level rise. Seeing all the statistics about our future is detrimental. Something that I could push is segues of education within schools because I feel like one way to combat all these social justice issues is to just teach students about it, have good conversations, and correctly inform students about these issues that are presented to them as well as presenting students with more opportunities to get involved in their community. Just really hone into what their passions are; that’s a really big step that we can take. 

Q: What does it mean to you that you are representing all public school students across the state?
A: It means a lot to me! It really just means that I have to take myself and create a bunch of relationships with all these students across the state. I just really want to emphasize that I will be the voice of the students, not the voice of myself. I’m definitely very honored to have this role. I’m willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to represent the students well. I want to make sure that we have a voice in our future and policies in everything that impacts us. 

Q：你希望從這次經歷中獲得什麼？
A: Just serving on the Board of Education is a big role. I feel like I’m really going to be able to dive into the nitty gritty on the Board of Education and everything that serves education in Hawaiʻi. I’m just really going to understand everything that’s going on, how higher level government is going to impact our schools and students. More perspectives is something that I’ll gain and definitely take into consideration in whatever I do. 

Q：您參與過哪些興趣或課外活動？
A: I like to make matcha from scratch. That’s something that I’ve gotten into lately. For my other extracurriculars, one of my big roles is that I’m the chair of the Hawaiʻi Youth Transportation Council, it stems from the legal settlement from Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation and it’s just a really big council. We’re really just focusing on getting the word out, pushing the sustainability and zero emission school by 2045. I’m also a leader of the Climate Future Forum, which we hold an event every year prior to the legislative session. It’s basically a space for you to learn more about sectors of the climate that they are interested in. There are a bunch of legislators there and organizations with tables. It’s just a really good networking and learning space.

Q：你高中畢業後的計劃是什麼？
A: 高中畢業後，我肯定會去上大學。我希望去東海岸，並打算學習政治學和經濟學。或許會兼修兩門科目。. 

Q：你有任何你敬佩的榜樣嗎？如果是的話，他們是如何鼓舞你的？
A: 我絕對會說，這必須是我的同儕和同事，以及我的家人。他們每天都在激勵我，因為他們總是帶著熱情投入工作。其中許多人非常聰明，他們也鼓舞著我去做任何事情。我喜歡與人合作，而建立這些關係更是非常鼓舞人心。. 

Q：你最喜歡的夏季活動是什麼？
A: 我想我大概會去海灘，和朋友們一起玩耍，因為我覺得夏天正是做這些事情的絕佳時機，也是為下學年做準備的好時機。這個夏天對我來說其實真的很忙碌。我還有另外一門課，叫做「司法圖繪」。我們利用地理信息系統（GIS）繪製地圖，並在GIS上標示社會正義的區域，這是一項完整的研究計畫。這絕對非常耗時，但我真的很喜歡做這些事情。.

這場採訪由卡拉尼高中二年級學生 Chiara Doyle 進行。她在擔任 HIDOE 通訊部團隊的暑期實習生期間撰寫了這篇文章。.