He said he loves the role and plans to stay "until I get my marching orders".
Board members serve three years, and are elected by the school community. The next election will be in November, and Mr Apai said he never takes being re-elected for granted.
He was "humbled" by the recognition.
"I'm more of a behind-the-scenes person - I'm here to help the principal and the school."
Mr Apai said the roles of teacher, principal and trustees had all become more difficult over the past few years.
"It's definitely getting harder and harder. The lack of funding is a real problem for us. It will be interesting to see if anything changes after the election."