Hastings Girls' High School principal Geraldine Travers says even if she had not won her seat in the Hastings District Council elections, her campaign was a success.
"It has got a lot of our current girls and former students interested in politics and democracy," she said.
Young people were too-often disengaged from politics "and if this has got them engaged, then that's fantastic".
She said she was surprised with her success in the Hastings-Havelock North Ward.
"I had the lowest-profile campaign. I only had five signs and tried to work out where I would deploy them.