Area students are among youth named by State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler on Tuesday to her Superintendent’s Student Cabinet, a 25-member group that will advise her about ways to strengthen North Dakota’s K-12 education system.

The Cabinet includes students ranging in age from the fourth to the 12th grades, representing large and small schools in all corners of North Dakota. Eight of the 25 members have served on previous Cabinets. It is the fifth Cabinet in the history of the program, and the largest since Baesler began the initiative in 2015.

Members include Bianca Sagness, a fourth grader at Kenmare Elementary School, and Landon Pitner, a fifth grader at South Prairie Elementary, Minot.

The Cabinet’s members will serve for 22 months, beginning next month and ending in June 2024. The group will meet with Baesler every three months at the North Dakota Capitol. Its first meeting is scheduled for Aug. 16.

“Since the Superintendent’s Student Cabinet program began, its members have provided me a great deal of valuable advice and opinions, and helped to shape public education policy,” Baesler said. “They have helped build my understanding of what our students need, and to learn what is going well in our schools and what can be improved.

“Aside from being able to influence public policy in North Dakota, students who serve in the Cabinet also have an opportunity to develop their skills in leadership, public speaking, decision-making and team building,” Baesler said. “They have a chance to become our next generation of leaders.”