The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) recently announced the newest incoming class of the LEAP Committee, of which one of the new members is Renton High School’s own Madison Hull.

“I genuinely was shocked. I couldn’t believe I was one of the people who got picked. There was a moment of self realization that I did something that made me stand out,” Hull said.

When she got selected, Hull’s mom had already predetermined she was going to be one of the names selected. “My mom was pretty confident. I don’t know why … Everyone was pretty thrilled,” she said.

LEAP (Leadership through Education, Activities, and Personal Development) began back in 2016 and takes applicants from all over the state. The committee gives students “a unique opportunity to be the voice of over 225,000+ student-participants,” says the WIAA website.

In Hull’s eyes, being on the committee is a great way to represent her fellow Rentonians. “It’s really just a way to make a difference with what you’re seeing in your sport and activity and make changes. It’s also a way to make your voice be heard,” she said.

She likes the idea of being a person of action, LEAP gives her the ability to make things happen in a way that she didn’t have before. “It’ll be a good way for me to make a direct impact. Especially since it’s hard to be on the sideline watching things happen, but now I get to be in those discussions,” Hull said.

Madison was one of 16 new members for the class of 2025. She joins Anson Huang (Renton High School Class of ‘19) as the only Renton High School representative and the fourth Renton School District member on LEAP dating back to 2009.

“I take a lot of pride in it,” she said of being the fourth RSD representative. “Mostly because when I looked at the schools that had gotten selected in the past they were schools that did not represent what Renton is or what Renton Schools are … That was one of the reasons I signed up in the first place, we need someone to represent the underdogs, the less rich, more diverse population.”

To get on the LEAP Committee the students have a couple rounds of interviews and applications. Including a short video segment that the students could put their own spin on. “I wanted to be creative with it. I really wanted to showcase who I was, so I put a bunch of snippets so they could see my daily life,” Hull said.

She wants to use her position as a megaphone, if people have problems with a system they can come to her and she can bring it to the committee. “Now that kids at my school and community know what I will be doing. I can kind of impact that in a small way. I think it is a good way for people to realize that students can do stuff in the community to help out,” Madison said.

At the end of the day, Hull said she hopes the inspires more kids from the Renton area to get involved in their communities. “I think more schools and people with backgrounds from areas like Renton where there is much diversity and the community is different. Bringing that to the WIAA would be good,” she said.