Maya Weir listened closely as a Napa Valley Unified School District administrator proposed new enrollment boundaries for elementary schools in American Canyon. She heard pleas from parents whose children's futures would be impacted by the board's decision. She sat at her microphone, legs crossed, pondering the drawings, the enrollment numbers and arguments.

"It's such a complex issue," she said after the Sept. 20 meeting, "Sometimes I'm like, 'Ah! I don't know!'"

Weir isn't just any school board member. She doesn't have a vote on the board, nor has she ever voted in a U.S. presidential election.

And while other members of the board present students with awards, Weir receives them. Just this month, she was named October Student of the Month at New Technology High School -- where she is a high school senior.

Appointed to the NVUSD board as the student representative for the current school year, Weir's role is to attend board meetings and provide input on issues that affect the district. Last year, Weir served as the alternate, but this year, she said, NVUSD Superintendent John Glaser asked her to step up to the plate.

"It's very exciting being on the board," she said. "Although sometimes I cannot grasp all the details of the issues, it is very riveting to see all the dynamic issues which our district faces. I really love being a part of that."

As a student, particularly a student who has followed a non-traditional educational path, Weir feels she can offer a unique perspective on these issues. After attending Sunrise Montessori, Weir got her first taste of public education in sixth grade -- at a public school in Israel. Weir and her family lived for a year in Caesaria, about one hour from Tel Aviv.

In Israel, she said, "school was so different, so chaotic." Classes were larger than at Sunrise Montessori; students were rude; the atmosphere was different from that in America, she said, speculating that the difference stems from the fact that Israeli students are expected to join the army immediately after graduation.

Weir said she left her experience at the School of Caesaria with a greater admiration for the educational system at home. "I think that in America, we have a very high level of education, and I probably didn't appreciate that as much until I went to school in Israel," she said.

When Weir returned to the United States, she continued her unconventional path, attending River School and now New Tech High. At New Tech, Weir is vice president of the Associated Student Body, vice president of Interact, co-founder of an environmentally sustainable clothing line and involved in various other organizations and activities, including volunteering as a Sunday School teacher, Hebrew teacher and youth coordinator at Congregation Beth Sholom.

This summer, she spent four weeks in Africa, in a little town outside of Nairobi, Kenya. There, Weir and 26 other students, the majority of whom were in college, joined Kenyan teachers to study wildlife conservation. As a part of her studies, Weir conducted a research project on community perspectives on wildlife conservation in the Kitengela area, traveling with a research partner and translator to interview locals. "They live so differently from us," she said. "An interview would be near a hut made of cow dung," and along the streets zebras and giraffes dotted the landscape against the backdrop of the urbanized Nairobi. It was like nothing she -- or likely any other member of the NVUSD board -- ever had seen before.

"In many ways, (Weir) has had many more experiences than a lot of adults," said Glaser. "She's not only lived in Israel and seen firsthand some of the conflicts that are at the heart of our world dialogue right now, she's gone out of her way to expose herself to different perspectives and cultures and experiences that will help her understand at a deeper level."

Weir said that those experiences contribute to her point of view as a member of the board, and she hopes that her insight will "influence the way board members vote on issues," she said.

Weir has already had the opportunity to weigh in on several important matters facing the district, including the controversial requirement for geography studies at Vintage High School last year. After debate erupted over the freshman requirement, which would leave one less period available for students to take electives such as art, the issue came before the board while Weir was serving as an alternate.

"I said that they should have geography," said Weir. "Although electives are important, the geography program was so much more than geography. I thought it would be beneficial for students to have that background."

"Kids could still do early or late flight," she said, referring to classes before or after normal class periods. "There are options. ... You just have to put a little extra effort in." In the end, that was the decision the board used in allowing Vintage to require geography for freshman.

"I definitely feel like I'm making an impact to some extent," said Weir.

"I think she's exactly the kind of student we like to have engaged in our conversations," said Glaser, adding, "She is a great representative of who we're trying to educate in this world."