Episode 54: Student Board Member, Monika Tua’one

August 30th, 2024 /
Alexander Glaves /

Sup with the Sup

Episode 54: Student Board Member, Monika Tua'one

00:00 / 14:52

Welcome everyone to the next episode of Provo City School District’s What’s Up With The Sup’ podcast. I am Superintendent Wendy Dau. For our episode this week, I visited with Monika Tua’one, who is the new Timpview student representative on our school board. We talked with her about how excited she is to work on the school board and some of the exciting ideas that she has for the coming year.

But first, here are our updates.

The next school board meeting will be a study session and business meeting on Tuesday, September 10th. Look for more information and specific times on the district website as the date approaches.
The Board of Education is currently crafting a new policy on cell phones that will align with proposed state legislation.
- We will be sending out a survey to families the first part of September to get your feedback on how we can support our students and teachers in creating productive learning environments free from distractions.
I will continue to send out a weekly video cast from me with information about the work happening throughout the district.
- This year, these video casts will be sent out every Monday morning.
If you qualify for free or reduced lunch, remember to send in your application right away. They must be received within the first 30 days of school, and these must be done every year.
Remember to update your information in PowerSchool. This needs to be done annually. It allows schools and the district to contact you with important information and in emergency situations.
The Foundation’s Links for Kids Golf Tournament will be held on September 26th at the Timpanogos Golf Club.
- Proceeds from this tournament are used to support afterschool programs and to provide teacher grants for innovative projects in their classrooms.
- If you are interested in participating and putting together a team, please visit foundation.provo.edu. A team of four costs $1,500.

This week’s podcast features Monika Tua’one. She is our student board member from Timpview High School, and we talk with her about all of the great ideas that she has for representing students at Timpview High School on our school board.

So stay tuned. It’s a great conversation. I’m here with Monika Tua’one at Timpview High School. She is our student board member for the Provo City School District Board of Education. I’m so excited to have you on the podcast.

Monika Tua’one: Thank you so much. I’m happy to be here.

Wendy Dau: So I want to ask you a little bit about why you wanted to be a student board member.

Monika Tua’one: I wanted to be a student board member because I felt like. My group of people with the minorities were underrepresented at a higher level, and I saw Principal Momi Tu’ua doing great things as a woman in power, and that really motivated me to get a higher position, not only as a student, but on the school board.

And I wanted to be able to represent all students of Timpview High School and of Provo School District.

Wendy Dau: I love also how you are acknowledging individuals that you see that are advocating for students, and you want to model that and be like that. I love that. That’s so great. So tell me a little bit about what your experience has been so far.

So we had a really long board meeting the other day. And so tell me what that’s like to endure that.

Monika Tua’one: It was long. It definitely was long. I feel like it is really important to have those long meetings because I didn’t realize how much goes into those meetings. It was very long, but. It was really interesting to see every single part that goes into it, and every opinion that is able to be heard throughout that process.

Wendy Dau: It was, uh, we had kind of a lively discussion about scoreboards at Provo High and Timpview High. Tell me a little bit about what you thought about that process, because you have principals coming in, you saw them advocating strongly for students, and you were given an opportunity to express your opinion, and just reflect on that a little bit.

Like, what are your thoughts about all that went into that?

Monika Tua’one: So one big thing that I loved was seeing both principals from the high schools come and advocate together rather than two separate things. They, it was combined. They split the parts. I did love hearing all of the things that went into it, hearing all of the benefits of it, how it could help students.

It can add another class to the course. Students could run the scoreboard. It’s more visible for the businesses and I just think it’s a great idea, but I really do love seeing the principals fight for their students.

Wendy Dau: That was probably the highlight for me too. It was just to see how much they care about you and how much time has gone into this.

And you just think about that one little decision. You think about all of the decisions that they’re making on a daily basis and how much students are at the center of what they do. So that’s pretty great. Tell me a little bit about what your ideas are being a student board member and how you feel like you can represent the Timpview community and what you hope to accomplish as a student board member.

Monika Tua’one: So as a student board member, I want to be able to relay all the information from the board meetings and just everything going on to the students. I realized in the past years, I didn’t really know what the school board did. I didn’t know much about it. And even with our past school board member being in student gov, I didn’t feel like I knew as much information that was being taught and even just said, so I want to be able to represent the students.

I want to speak on behalf of the students, but a really big thing for me is I want to make it easily accessible. I want students to know that they can come to me, they can go to Baker, they can go to Momi, they can go to their teachers, and all of that information will go to the school board. I want everyone to feel like they’re being said, rather than speaking their opinion and feeling like it’s not going anywhere.

Wendy Dau: I think that’s going to be really important as we start looking at things like cell phone policies and we even saw that a little bit with Centennial Middle School travel, principals advocating for them, but you being aware of that and helping people understand all of those pieces becomes really important.

You are going to be a major part of heading up a student advisory council as well. And so talk to me about as issues are brought up in that council, how do you see being able to advocate for your peers in that with school board members? Because there will be school board members that attend that student advisory council.

How do you envision that?

Monika Tua’one: So for the school board council, I really wanted to look into different aspects of the school, a performing arts student, maybe an athlete, maybe someone from student gov, but I feel like I could represent student gov because a lot of the opinions in that class are the same. So I want to be able to get many different opinions and many different representations because I’m only one voice. I can’t represent the entire school, but I can do that with the help of other students. I was also looking into other people who ran for my position because they know what they want to advocate for and I think it would be a great idea to have them on my school council.

Wendy Dau: That’s a great idea to be looking at individuals that might not have become the student board member but have a vested interest in making the school and making our district a better community. What a great idea. Tell me a little bit about some of the things that you’re hoping that get on the radar of the school board that are issues at Timpview High School, you feel like we’re not paying attention to.

Monika Tua’one: I feel like the biggest issue right now are the commons. I do know that there’s a lot of construction going on, but I do know that many teachers have asked the construction workers, how long do you think this is going to take? And they feel like it can go by pretty quickly, but they’re using it as a storage unit right now.

So it’s getting a little hard to rush the process because that’s something that they’re using right now. But I do feel like it creates a big separation in the student body because I’ve noticed in the past years, my siblings have come to Timpview, everyone dressed up, everyone just up for the days for spirit Friday.

Like everyone wanted to be involved, but I feel like now if you don’t have somewhere to show it off, if you don’t have someone to like show it to you, take pictures with your friends, you feel kind of silly going into class being dressed up and no one else is. But I feel like if you’re, you have a common ground, you have a place where everyone can come to between classes, passing periods, lunch, you get to see everyone else who’s being involved and it makes you want to be involved.

So I think that that’s one of the biggest issues at Timpview High School right now.

Wendy Dau: Construction is always a big issue at Timpview High School, right? I mean, yes. Yes, but it has an impact on students, right? So, you know, as we look at continuing a construction process for Timpview to really finish this building and make it the safe and awesome building that it should be, tell me what would that mean to the student body?

Cause you’re not just representing seniors. You’re also representing these freshmen and sophomores. What would that mean to them? And, and to get a new auditorium, for example, or to have performing arts spaces that are great, or a counseling office. To go talk to your counselor that’s bigger than a closet, all of those things.

What does that mean for students? How does it make you feel as a student? And how do you advocate for that?

Monika Tua’one: I feel like every student of the school has a place to feel represented because I know beforehand dance studios weren’t in the plan and hearing from some dancers, they’re like, why don’t we get a studio, but there’s a whole new football field, there’s a whole new stadium. What’s going on with that? And I feel like a new auditorium, a new weight room, a new dance studio, all of these things that are contributing to every part of our student body makes them feel represented and then it makes everyone feel special.

You get a whole new studio, you get a whole new field, and then even if a scoreboard works out, you get a whole new scoreboard that works for every other sport. So I feel like everyone has a chance to feel represented throughout all of this.

Wendy Dau: I think people don’t realize how much a high school becomes this little city, right?

And it’s a, it’s a whole community and that people do look to see if you’re valuing what it is that they’re a part of, right? That’s a big deal. Tell me how you want to make sure also that those voices are heard as we’re maybe even developing policies or procedures or, or things that we’re looking at in terms of could be safety.

It could be classes that we offer, priorities that we have, how we spend our money as a district. How do we make sure that every kid is feeling like, yeah, I’m cared about. People want me to be successful. How can we make sure that we are utilizing the expertise and the connections that you have with students to the greatest degree?

Cause that’s really what we want. We want student voice. We’re doing all sorts of things to you. We would like to do things with you instead, help us figure out how to do that better.

Monika Tua’one: I feel like a group meeting in the auditorium where students can come to during lunch, during just any free time, and they can share their opinions.

They can come up to a podium, they can share what they think, because then you’re hearing directly from the students. It’s not just an assumption, it’s not your personal opinion, you’re hearing from the student body. And I feel like that is a great way to get representation from every single person who feels like they want to be heard.

Wendy Dau: I went to a high school once in, uh, Texas and they had a monthly meeting where they served, I don’t know if it was donuts or what they had. It was probably pigs in a blanket because it was Texas. So you got to have, I don’t know. It was pretty awesome. But they got to meet with the principal and some of the student government and kids could just bring up issues that they had that maybe were not on everybody’s radar.

And then those issues could be problem solved together. Is that kind of what you’re envisioning here?

Monika Tua’one: 100%. I also think with the homerooms, I feel like that’s where I wanted to announce what’s going on in the school board, but I feel like adding maybe a QR code or a survey on there and putting a QR code or a link where students can write down anything that they want to be heard.

Then we can gather all of that information and share that with the school board.

Wendy Dau: That’s a fantastic idea because I think there are a lot of kids that might be too shy to like stand up and say something, but they might be more willing to write it down and say, these are some things that are really bothering me or even say, this is awesome.

Please don’t take this away. Like sometimes we need that positive feedback too. So we don’t say, I don’t think they care about that. And then actually you really do. So. That’s great. These are great ideas that you’re talking about. This is exactly what we were hoping for from having student board members because you’ll have opportunities to give board reports and there are going to be times where some of those things need to come on our agendas for discussion.

Other ideas that you have that or things that you would like us to be aware of.

Monika Tua’one: I really just want to make the student council known around the school because I want students to know that their council is within their student body. They can go to the people here and know that that information is going to be relayed over to the school board.

So, I feel like just more advocating for everything, even if it’s on social media, if it’s on Thursdays for our homeroom schedule, but I feel like consistently seeing that we’re here for you is better than just saying like, yeah, we’re here, and then nothing comes from that.

Wendy Dau: Okay. So you’ve already started off this great career being a representative for others.

So what are your plans after high school? What do you want? Like how are you going to continue this? Because you’re going to be an incredible voice for lots of different causes and people. What are you going to do to continue that?

Monika Tua’one: I think it’s really important to just represent fundraising. I think fundraising is big.

This past year, my sophomore year, actually, I held a fundraiser for Maui and I wanted to make sure that that was everywhere. I wanted everyone to know about that because I know that there’s causes that need attention. So after high school, I do want to attend college, a four year college. I was thinking of going out of state just so I can get a different experience from being here in Utah, because originally I am from Florida.

So moving from there to here is a big difference, but I would love, I would love to just, you know, experience everything. I want to be able to travel. I want to be able to just see different parts of the world, and I feel like being here and seeing all the, like, hearing all the different voices, I want to see that in real life around the world.

Wendy Dau: I was thinking about the Centennial Middle School students going to New York, and while I sort of have a panic attack about sending eighth graders to New York City, at the same time, I think about that as an experience. That you can’t have in Provo, Utah, right? Just, just the cultural experience, the experience of people from different backgrounds, whether it’s a different language background, they’re an immigrant, they have a different socioeconomic status.

It just broadens your perspectives and probably helps us to appreciate what we have a lot more, right? I’m hoping so. Well, is there anything else that you would like us to know or like us to share or like to tell students as we finish up?

Monika Tua’one: I just want all the students to know that I am here. I am listening and I want to make sure that your voices are heard.

And I want to make sure that the school board hears those voices.

Wendy Dau: Well, I know that we’re going to hear it because you’re going to let us know. So I’m looking forward to that. And thank you so much for spending the time with us.

Thank you for joining me for this week’s episode of What’s Up With The Sup’. As always, all episodes will be posted on the district website, YouTube, and anywhere you get your podcasts. If you have any topics or questions you would like us to discuss on the podcast, please email us at podcast@provo.edu.

We will be back again next week with an all new episode of What’s Up With The Sup’. And those of you that are Provo High fans, don’t fear. We will make sure that we get our Provo High and our Independence High School students on our podcast as well. Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone.