Seventeen-year-old Laura Monson has exciting summer plans. She soon will be touring England,
France and Germany, where she'll have the opportunity to fine-tune her German.But a European vacation won't be the only highlight of the West High senior's summer. On July 14, she will officially take her seat on the Salt Lake Board of Education as its newest - and youngest - member.
Tuesday night, Board President Alan Mecham administered the oath of office to Monson, daughter of Gregory and Nancy Monson. She succeeds Troy Durham, the 1991-92 East High student body president who has served on the school board since last July.
Two years ago, the board selected its first student member. Utah law says that a student age 18 or younger who collects the signatures of 500 peers, or 10 percent of the enrolled high school students in smaller school districts, may request appointment to a local school board as a non-voting member.
Salt Lake board members decided that to be fair they should rotate the board membership among the city's three high schools. They assigned the 1992-93 seat to West. Highland student Stanford Pugsley occupied the first student seat, during the 1990-91 school year.
Monson said she has no specific plans for her board membership. "I may be a little apprehensive at first, but I want to make sure I'm really involved. I want to represent all of the students in Salt Lake District the best I can," she said.
That could make for a very busy senior year. She is the West student body secretary and editor of the yearbook, the Panther.