Candidate Profile: Aaron Chan For Millburn Board Of Ed 2021

MILLBURN, NJ — As a senior at Millburn High School, Aaron Chan believes the Board of Education needs someone to represent the students' voice; and that someone is him.

Chan is one of eight candidates vying for three seats on Millburn's Board of Education this election season.

Read below to learn more about Chan and his platform for the upcoming election on Nov. 2.

1. What is your background?

“I am a high school senior and have lived in this school district for 12 years. I have spent every school year in this district, from kindergarten to senior year. I’ve spent much of my high school career involved in community service and leadership.

"I am the President of the Millburn Key Club, the largest community service club in the school, and I co-manage a volunteer tutoring organization called TutorEd. I’ve also helped in a variety of other community activities, such as serving as a volunteer captain in Rocktoberfest and teaching English at the Millburn Institute of Talent.

"I am running on the ideal of student representation. Students are the most affected by the decisions of the board and schools, so I believe they deserve a direct voice in the community body overseeing the school district, the board of education, as other members of the community receive.”

Related: Meet all eight Millburn Board of Ed candidates running this November

2. What are some goals you want to achieve on the Board?

“As a candidate for a seat on the BOE, I aim to serve as a direct bridge between students and the board, ensuring that the board’s decisions are in line with student interests. While doing so, I have three main goals: improve student mental health, provide more academic and extracurricular opportunities to students, and improve school infrastructure.

"Mental health is a constant issue facing our older students especially, and to provide a better education and school experience, it is imperative we address it.

"I’d also like to provide more academic and extracurricular opportunities since we have, no doubt, some of the most talented students in the country; we just need to provide them more chances to flourish.

"School infrastructure is a constant issue across our district which is restricted by funding limitations, but I will work my hardest to provide as many upgrades to our schools as possible using what resources we have or can be mustered to continue providing a high-quality educational environment.”

To learn more about Chan and his platform, follow his campaign on Facebook here.

3. What is the number one problem you feel needs to be addressed in Millburn’s education system?

“I believe the number one problem we need to address in Millburn’s education system is student mental health. While our school is one of the best and most rigorous in the country, we have been painfully ill-prepared to aid students in regards to mental health even though we have excellent mental health resources. I believe the key is to build student trust of the administration and school counselors as early as possible.

"We should have our younger students regularly talking to counselors, whether it is necessary or not, to normalize them to the process. In this way, they can feel comfortable reaching out to counselors or psychologists when they’re older and actually need help.

"There are, however, other policies we need to also look at to benefit older students currently in the district. For example, we should try making it easier for students to move between class levels, so they feel less pressure to remain in a difficult class if they are unable to handle it.”

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