Bonza Auberson

Bonza Auberson serves as the student representative of the Tennessee State Board of Education, representing all public school students across the state. She is a senior enrolled at Cookeville High School (CHS).  

Before entering CHS, Bonza was a student at Algood Middle School and was nominated as the AMS Beta Club representative at Beta Leadership Summer Camp in the summer of 2019. While in middle school she was in many clubs such as Chorus, Band, 4-H, and especially enjoyed the school newspaper. 

4-H UT Extension Agent, Mr. Trent Jones nominated her to be the Dairy Council representative in the summer of 2020 where she promoted the importance of dairy farming.  She was also on the chicken judging team. She was nominated for the CHS newspaper as a freshman due to her work on the middle school paper. 

This past summer, Auberson was selected to participate in Volunteer Girls State, a program of the American Legion Auxiliary that promotes female leadership in Tennessee.  During this program, she was nominated and won mayor of her city.  As a high school student, she has been an all-honors student and a student of the International Baccalaureate Degree courses.

She has danced with Stage One Studio since she was 3 years old and earned the lead role of Clare in the annual production of The Nutcracker 2024. Her love of dance led her to try out and make the CHS Dance Team each year of her high school career. 

During the spring months, she has volunteered as an assistant to the AMS dance team coach. She continues her love of music by participating in the CHS Chorus and was nominated to the Mid-State Chorus Tryouts as a freshman.

Bonza is an active member in her youth group at Cookeville First United Methodist Church where she sings in the Youth Choir and volunteers at the food pantry and the annual Vacation Bible School.

In the News:

• Cookeville student named to state board of education, Herald-Citizen