WEST ORANGE, NJ – This year’s Student Liaisons were introduced during the Sept. 23 Board of Education meeting, marking the second year that student representation has been included at regular board meetings.
Senior Darlene Folas and junior Senay Dani were introduced as the new high school representatives. Last year’s team of Sessina Dani and Aarushi Bhatnagar made an important impact on last year’s board meetings, offering student perspective on board issues and initiatives. They created a student website to facilitate communication among students and to provide a forum to bring concerns to the board. They also lobbied for feminine hygiene products be made free and available to high school students, busing issues, and high school start time.
About Darlene Folas
In addition to her new role as Student Liaison, Darlene serves on the Student Council, working on many of their initiatives, including Suicide Prevention and attending the Student Leadership Summit.
Folas has been part of the AFJROTC since freshman year and currently leads the Advertisement Flight. She also held leadership roles in Academic and Logistics Flight.
“I recognized the BOE Liaison as a position that was in line with many of the initiatives I was pursuing during my junior year and an extension of my passion for social justice and activism,” explained Folas.
“Last year I lead a club called WOKE and served as the President of the Nikhil Badlani Foundation Youth Advisory Board. These positions showed me that I was capable of leadership roles like BOE Liaison and had a genuine passion for the community impact it made,” she continued.
“I am looking forward to work alongside Senay as student liaisons. We are discussing exciting ideas for this school year and I have a commitment to serving the voices of the students in our district,” she concluded.
Darlene has not made a decision yet on a college or major, but knows she wants to work in the Humanities.
About Senay Dani
Senay is following in his sister Sessina’s footsteps as he begins his new role as Student Liaison. In addition to his liaison role, Dani has run varsity long-distance track and cross-country since freshman year and hopes to make the Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon with the team.
“I am also looking into running during college, and hopefully professionally later on,” he noted.
Dani has also been part of the AFJROTC since freshman year and participated in the Cadet Leadership Course, held at the Air Force Joint McGuire Base with cadets from several AFJROTC programs. He was promoted to officer rank as a Flight Commander and has recently been promoted to Force Support Officer for the Squadron.
Dani was elected by the student body to be a Student Liaison on the Student Council, attending meetings and participating in training events.
In addition to his demanding schedule, Dani will be taking several AP courses this year, including AP US History, AP Psychology, AP Physics 1 – Algebra-Based, and AP Language and Composition.
“From an early age, my parents instilled it in me to work hard so I have been doing as much as I can to learn as much as I can academically,” Dani noted.
In describing his decision to become a BOE Student Liaison, Senay said, “I expressed interest in this position after I saw the change that my sister was able to create. I saw this as a positive force that I could get behind and change my school system for the better, and make it more inclusive for everyone. I always desire to make a positive impact in everything that I do and this position seemed perfect for my goals to better the district.”
Although Dani doesn’t need to think about college yet, he is interested in taking Pre-Med and exploring other majors. He is also talking to college coaches to find a good academic and athletic fit.
View the BOE Student Liaison webpage here. They are also offering a form to complete for climate change here.
BOE Student Liaisons Senay Dani and Darlene Folas with Student Council Advisor Catherine Connors.
