Canyons School District board member Jackson Lewis understands what life is like for students in his district. That’s because less than two years ago he was one of those students.
The 20-year-old graduated from Hillcrest High School in 2023. The lifelong Midvale resident and now Salt Lake Community College student was sworn in during the board’s Jan. 7 meeting.
“I'm just excited to serve and to be able to make changes for the people, for my community,” Lewis told KUER.
The self-described “policy nerd” first got interested in running for the school board when he was 17. Lewis said he overheard teachers talking about their frustrations with state lawmakers and the school board.
“They felt like they were not being given the support and resources they needed. And it was in that moment I looked up the rules to run [for office],” Lewis said.
He had to wait until he was old enough and launched his campaign in 2024.
When Lewis won the November election at the age of 19, a district spokesperson said he was the youngest person to be elected to a public office in Utah. He’s also the first member of the Canyons board to be a graduate of that district, which opened in 2009.
And as a young gay man, Lewis said he brings a unique and valuable perspective to this position.
“I know how important just having queer voices in education is,” Lewis said. “It's important to have people in positions of power who have the lived experiences of a lot of these students in the district.”
Since being elected last November, Lewis said he’s gotten lots of supportive messages from the community about how interesting and important it is to see a young, queer person on the board. He said it's been humbling and surreal.
“I'm super, super grateful. This is an incredible experience.”
Lewis has also experienced firsthand some of the top issues schools are facing, like chronic absenteeism. While he was dealing with mental health and personal issues in high school, he was chronically absent. Lewis knows what solutions worked for him to help improve his attendance and he wants to make sure all students have similar options available to keep them engaged.
“The district needs to meet students where they are.”
Lewis not only hopes to provide his perspective, but he also wants to get more students involved in decision making and school board issues. He thinks his age will help with this too.
The overall goal, Lewis said, is to provide a quality education and the best way to achieve that is to have a broad range of perspectives at the table since every student is different.
“I'm different from every other member of the board, and that's a good thing. Each of our board members are different, and that's a good thing,” Lewis said. “Differences and diversity is a good thing because it makes us stronger.”
On election night, Lewis was surrounded by his friends, some he had known since elementary school. They anxiously awaited the results and when it was clear he had won, Lewis said he felt shock and joy. Wanting to hit the ground running, he went to the district offices the next day to introduce himself and meet the district staff.
As he sat in his home surrounded by binders full of information to prepare him for his new role, Lewis said it felt like drinking from a firehouse. But he doesn’t at all feel deterred.
“That's the job, and I signed up for it. And I honestly could not be happier about it.”
