The Weld RE-1 School District wants its high school students to have a voice in public education, whether in school or at the state level.
Sophia Rodriguez, a junior at Valley High School, has stepped up as a leader to ensure students in Weld RE-1 and across Colorado are heard.
The Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) recently selected Rodriguez to join the 2025 Student Leadership Academy Planning Team. Shortly after, the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) appointed Rodriguez as one of the state representatives for the 2025-26 school year.
As one of the first Weld RE-1 students asked to participate in the leadership roles, Rodriguez looks forward to lending a student voice to the associations.
“It’s a really good opportunity, not only for me, but our entire district,” Rodriguez said.
The Weld RE-1 School District, which serves LaSalle, Gilcrest and Platteville, has been pushing for more students to get involved in CASB for the past few years, according to Richard Dalgliesh, who’s served as the principal of Valley High School for 13 years. To Rodriguez’s knowledge, Weld RE-1 student involvement in CHSAA has also been minimal.
In her new roles, Rodriguez hopes to show others what they can accomplish by engaging with such opportunities and how they can help improve their school. Particularly those from small, rural school districts such as her own.
‘Outstanding representative’
CASB represents local school boards across the state by providing advocacy, services, information and training to board members. The association aims to enhance school board effectiveness and support board members so that “every student is equipped to meet their full potential,” according to the association’s website.
After a competitive application process, CASB selected 10 students for its 2025 Student Leadership Academy Planning Team based on “their dedication to service, creativity, teamwork and passion for positive change,” according to a CASB news release.
Only two Weld County students, Rodriguez and Annabelle Rusco from Roosevelt High School, will serve on the team.
The 10 planning members are tasked with designing and leading the Student Leadership Academy program during CASB’s Annual Convention from Dec. 11-13 at the Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs, according to the release.
Representing Valley High School, Rodriguez has participated in the Board of Education and Superintendent retreat at the CASB conference for the past two years, according to Weld RE-1 Superintendent Kim Bloeman. The statewide conference, which is open to leaders in ninth through 12th grades, usually has more than 150 students in attendance.
“Sophia has been an active contributor to our district’s leadership efforts,” Bloeman said. “She has consistently demonstrated thoughtful insight and leadership in discussions about programs, policies and the district’s future direction.”
Although Rodriguez has only had one meeting as a CASB student leader, she has big plans to work with her peers to make a difference in public education. The student-led team has already presented an issue to address at schools across the state: student participation.
CASB student leaders want to find a “happy medium” for increasing student involvement without putting much on students’ plates, Rodriguez said.
As a CHSAA state representative — and the only one from Weld County — Rodriguez will raise awareness and participation of the association’s mission and vision of “Seeking Excellence in Academics, Activities, and Athletics” and use her student voice on select committees, according to a CHSAA release.
CHSAA, the governing body for high school activities and athletics, works to create an equitable environment that challenges and inspires qualifying students to meet their highest potential, according to its mission statement.
Before landing the state representative role, Rodriguez attended multiple association events as a student council member, including the annual Student Leadership Summer Camp, which inspired her to seek the leadership opportunity.
As a pitcher for Valley High School’s varsity softball team, she wanted to bring her unique perspective from a small, rural school district in Gilcrest to the conversation. Many state representatives come from 5A schools, the highest classification for high school sports, but she wanted to see more diversity at the table, specifically from lower classifications.
“Your larger schools have more of an influence,” Dalgliesh said. “I believe this is a way for smaller schools, rural schools to have a voice in what is actually going on in the school setting.”
Through her involvement in both associations and early beginnings in the leadership roles, Rodriguez has learned that students cannot rely on others to step up and bring about positive change in a school.
“You have to be that voice,” she said.
This often involves student leaders bringing a solid plan to their district’s board of education and always persisting in their efforts, she added. Bloeman said Rodriguez, the “amazing Valley Viking,” recently partnered with district leaders to provide insight for the Weld RE-1 five-year strategic plan.
“Her commitment to improving educational experiences for all students and her ability to collaborate with both peers and adults make her an outstanding representative for Weld RE-1 and students across Colorado,” Bloeman said.
Dalgliesh believes Rodriguez’s upcoming work for CHSAA and CASB will not go unnoticed. He foresees her sitting in at meetings and not holding back her opinions and ideas.
Because if she wants something, she will go get it, he said.
‘She does it all’
Dalgliesh knew Rodriguez was a “goal-driven, go-getter” from their very first interaction at her freshman orientation. As an eighth grader, she told her future principal that she was going to be president of the United States one day.
“When she said it, it wasn’t like that 4-year-old who says, ‘I’m going to be a fireman and a professional football player, and the president all at the same time,’ ” Dalgliesh said. “She said it with such conviction that I truly believe she will be.”
And her future goal all starts with leadership inside the walls of her school.
On top of new responsibilities through the state associations, Rodriguez will serve as student council president during her senior year, stepping up the ladder after she spent this school year as vice president. She will also go from National Honor Society secretary to president next school year.
As the next student body president, academically ranked in the top two in her class, she wants to demonstrate to all Valley High School students that they “can do anything” they put their mind to.
“A lot of people who live in Gilcrest stay in Gilcrest,” Rodriguez said. “I just want to show a lot of the younger students that if they dream big, they can do big things.”
Rodriguez will assume responsibilities as a CHSAA state representative at the Student Leadership Summer Camp from June 2-5 at Colorado Mesa University.
In August, she will begin attending biweekly CASB Student Leadership Academy Planning Team meetings to organize the 2025 Student Leadership Academy. The academy, a program led by the team, helps students “develop skills in advocacy, communication, and school board engagement,” according to the CASB news release.
In addition to her school leadership roles, she participates in Key Club, Colorado State University Educational Talent Search and college courses.
“She does it all,” Dalgliesh said. “She represents Valley so well in so many different aspects — academically, athletically, and community-based. She is such a quality human being.”
And it’s a school she’s proud to represent.
“I really do love my school,” Rodriguez said. “I always tell people how great my school is.”
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