FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18 — While most students at Woodford County High School started their first day of school, junior Preston Graham had an excused absence – for good reason. Graham traded the classroom for a meeting room as he joined the Kentucky Board of Education’s first planning session of the school year.

“My job is to represent all of the students, be the student voice that is so crucial to making the best policy decisions possible,” Graham said.

Throughout this school year, Graham will offer insight to the board with his unique, student-minded perspective.

Board member Holly Bloodworth said, “It really gives us an opportunity to hear firsthand information from a student, ‘how might this impact you in your placement? What are other students saying about this?’”

Graham is just the fourth student to take this representative role, and he’s the first from central Kentucky to do so.

“I’m pretty much a board member in every way except voting on policy,” Graham said of his duties. “They don’t necessarily let a 16-year-old vote on decisions that could affect the entirety of the state.”

When Graham speaks, however, the board listens.

“One big surprise was just how much the board is looking to me for advice,” he shared. “They truly care about this position and they’re truly trying to get the most out of this position just like I am.”
Bloodworth added, “When our student representative talks, we all stop, we listen, because we want that to inform what we are doing.”

Sure, Graham skipped his first day of school to be here today, missing classes like AP Calculus and Literature. However, he hopes his position on the board can ultimately lead to positive change for his current classmates and future students.

“I want to help as many people I can in any way that I can,” Graham said, “whether that be through creating new policy, changing old policy, amending it, or just providing my insight.”

“I look at him and I know why I’m on this board of education,” said Bloodworth. “It’s because I want to make education better for students like him.”

Graham goes back to class on Friday, but he will serve out his term on the board through June 30, 2025.