First getting involved in leadership while he was at El Portal Middle School, Jose Aguirre-Cano is now a junior at Escalon High School and is filling the role of the student representative on the Escalon Unified School District board this year.

Though just getting started, he’s hoping to offer some insight to board members, giving them the perspective of a student as they make district decisions.

“I was looking at my elective course ballot,” Aguirre-Cano said of his middle school journey. “I had a cousin (current EHS senior Alondra Aguirre) and I asked her what leadership was like.”

Learning that it was a fun elective, getting to plan rallies and events at the school, he decided to join the middle school student leadership team and hasn’t looked back since.

“Coming into high school, I was a little bit hesitant because there’s a lot more to do,” he said, but ultimately he decided to stay involved.

He was class treasurer his freshman year at EHS and was given the opportunity to serve as ASB – Associated Student Body – secretary as a sophomore. Now, as a junior, he is the ASB Vice President, which brings with it the opportunity to serve as the student school board representative.

“You have to be very detailed,” Aguirre-Cano explained. “Everyone wants to know everything.”

He said keeping the school board and administration informed of the various student activities is his main focus in board meetings right now, though he is looking forward to learning more about the way the district works as he moves through the year. He did report on the new CTE classrooms at the first board meeting of the year, with Homecoming his topic for the next.

“I’m hoping to gain some public speaking experience,” he admitted. “I don’t like speaking in front of big crowds and even in the classroom, with classmates I’ve known my entire life, I still get nervous.”

Reporting to the board on a regular basis and asking questions about district activities and business, he said, will hopefully help him gain confidence in a public setting.

As far as his plans after high school, Aguirre-Cano is hoping to attend a four-year school such as UC Davis or UC Berkeley to study business and accounting.

“I’ve always been a big math guy,” the junior shared.

On the high school campus, he is involved in CSF – California Scholarship Federation – as well as Spanish Club and the Sacred Heart Club.

“CSF is a way where I can give back to my community,” Aguirre-Cano explained. “Spanish Club enriches my culture and Sacred Heart Club helps me keep up my faith.”

He has attended Escalon schools his entire life, starting out at Van Allen Elementary, then going to El Portal and now the high school.

Aguirre-Cano said the student school board position is one he doesn’t take lightly and he hopes to represent the student body well this school year, adding that the board members have already been very supportive and encouraging.

“It’s a fun opportunity,” he said. “There’s so many people at this school and only one gets the job … it’s a big deal.”