Oakdale High School senior Samantha Oliveira started the 2025-26 school year with her official swearing in as the OJUSD Student Board Member on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025.
Once made official, the student joined Superintendent Larry Mendonca and the rest of the board in her new role.
“It was kind of a brief first meeting,” Oliveira said of the Aug. 11 session. “I heard the next one will be pretty long and the next one is when I’ll report on the schools. So that one will be what my role will actually be.”
While she was familiar with board meetings and shared she had watched them in the past, Oliveira confessed she didn’t realize the student had the same responsibility as the other board members. A fact which she admitted to feeling encouraged by.
“I was interested in this position, because I’m excited to be the voice between the students and the school board,” she said of her pursuit to be the student representative. “I think it’s cool that I have a leadership role where I represent the whole student body in a way.”
Oliveira began her education with OJUSD at Fair Oaks Elementary School, then moved on to Oakdale Junior High and is now in her senior year at OHS. She is a member of the OHS Golf Team, S-Club and has been in Leadership since her sophomore year.
“A lot of people are excited for senior year,” she said of her classmates. “They’re ready to be done. I’m not really. I’m excited for college, but sad to leave my family.”
The senior further shared she has not identified a “dream college,” to date. She has plans of pursuing a major in Business, Economics or Finance.
“I’m going to stay open minded,” she said, regarding her career goals. “There’s a couple of things, I’m like, well … maybe.”
As for her current status and the year ahead as the board’s student representative, Oliveira noted she’s comfortable being around adults.
“I enjoy talking to adults,” she said, admitting to being a little nervous at the first meeting, which she feels is normal.
“I was surprised by the binder,” she stated of the meeting content she gathered prior to the August meeting. “I think most of the anxiety was just getting over the first one and seeing how things go. It went smoothly; I feel ready for it.”
Well-spoken but a bit on the quiet side, Oliveira stated spending time with friends as her favorite thing to do in her down time.
“She’s super thoughtful, so she picks her words,” OHS Vice-Principal Shannon Kettering said of the new student board member. “Sam will be a kid that when she speaks it will be with power. People listen, because she is so thoughtful in that.”
When posed with the question of what one word she feels best describes her, Oliveira took a moment to reflect in thought, stating she would hope to be described as “friendly.”
“I hope to always make people feel like they can talk to me,” she said. “I hope people think of me as friendly, because I feel like that encompasses being kind, inclusive, all those good things.”
Now officially in her role on the board she noted her main goal is to use her full responsibility. She plans to mostly focus on the high school since that’s where she attends, but plans to speak on other campuses as well.
“I think as a student, amongst a bunch of adults, it’s easy to think maybe I shouldn’t speak up. So I think that’s going to be one of my goals, if I want to say something, I’m going to say it,” she said.
