Fellow students - and not only Sarah Bormel's high school classmates in Towson - often ask Baltimore County's youngest school board member: "Could you get other kinds of food stocked in the vending machines?"

"A lot of the things they ask for are, like, silly," the 17-year-old recalled the other day, before a meeting at which the board considered classroom crowding and the school system's goals. "Stuff that the board really has no control of."

Although Bormel may not be able to get bagels and granola bars sold in the vending machines at her school, Carver Center for Arts and Technology, she has brought a penetrating intellect to the board's bimonthly meetings.

"I stop doing whatever I'm doing when she starts talking," said Sanford V. Teplitzky, one of the dozen adults serving on the board, "because I know it's going to be a very important point she brings up."

When presentations bog down in complimentary exchanges, Bormel is often the member to ask how the matter affects students. When discussions veer off on tangents, she is frequently the one to steer them back to schools.

"She tells like it is," said Marilyn K. Ryan, a PTA official who regularly attends the meetings. "If there is a question, she asks a question. She doesn't do much of the 'I would like to add my congratulations.'"

Maryland is one of four states that allow students on school boards to vote. While Anne Arundel County's student board member can vote on every matter, students on other Baltimore-area boards have limited voting rights. The representative in Baltimore County can vote on all matters except those pertaining to budgets and personnel. Carroll County's representative doesn't vote at all.

But students can have an effect. In Baltimore County, the student representative served on the search committee when Joe A. Hairston was hired as superintendent and informed board President Donald L. Arnold that cafeterias must be enlarged when schools are.

"We never thought of that at the time, and that was several years ago," Arnold said. "It's those types of examples - where the student brings up something from their experience - that is very helpful."

Two years ago, the board defeated a student member's efforts to gain full voting rights. Arnold said it wouldn't make sense for a student to vote on, for example, disciplining teachers.

Yet Bormel's service shows how a student can add to board discussions - in this case, a student who likes to play in toy stores, exercise with friends and talk on her cellular phone "a whole lot."

"My dad doesn't like that," added Bormel, who lives in Reisterstown.

'All about efficiency'

Bormel said her approach at board meetings is to listen for awhile and then make a comment. When she joined the board, she found that she needed to master the intricacies of the huge school system. Feeling more comfortable, she sees her job as an advocate for students.

And, she said, "to keep the board within boundaries, just keeping us on the topic. I'm all about efficiency - I'm so busy I have to be. I'm not a big fan of just talking and talking. I like to see things happen. I like to see results."

After negotiating an intense application and interview process, Bormel was chosen to serve on the school board by Gov. Parris N. Glendening. She is the 23rd student to hold the one-year position.

Headed for college

Graduates have attended Ivy League colleges, and generally have gone on to careers other than education.

"Basically, these students go into law," said Barbara J. Fuller, a school system staff member who helps student board members.

Bormel is applying to colleges in Boston, New York and Washington. Although she has had small acting roles on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Viva Variety on Comedy Central, the MTV Video Music Awards, and in the movie Stuart Little 2 - she is thinking about a career as a prosecutor or in the FBI.

"I'm looking for a job that changes every day, where my duties involve lots of intelligence, involve lots of creativity, but also has a real purpose. Who knows what it will be," she said, before rushing off to a board meeting that wouldn't begin without her.