The student run newspaper of Poolesville High School

Female candidates dominate SMOB nominating convention

This year, a total of 16 students hailing from nine different high schools filed for candidacy to become the 2018-2019 Student Member on the Board of Education (SMOB). The SMOB is an elected official who can vote on issues such as administrative appointments (including hiring of the Superintendent of Schools), various policies, and the Board of Education’s legislative platform. Recent SMOBs include Matt Post of Sherwood HS, Eric Guerci of Bethesda Chevy Chase HS, and Dahlia Huh of Clarksburg HS.

On February 21st, the 16 candidates gathered at Watkins Mill HS for the Nominating Convention, where the pool was narrowed down to the final two after delivering speeches to student representatives from MCPS high schools and middle schools. Ultimately, Ananya Tadikonda, a junior at Richard Montgomery HS, and Nimah Nayel, also a junior at Richard Montgomery HS, prevailed as the final two candidates. This will be the first SMOB election since 2006 in which both candidates are female.

Throughout the month of January, candidates filed paperwork to officially declare their candidacy, with many launching social media based campaigns, along with websites, and videos. Many candidates cited issues such as funding for ESOL programs, mental health, and lunch quality as key policy issues to be addressed.

Tadikonda’s campaign centers around the slogan #empoweringyou. Her advocacy includes increasing equitable resource access, including access to school counselors, combatting school infrastructure issues, and expanding career and vocational opportunities. More about her candidacy and platform can be found at AnanyaForSMOB.com.

Nayel’s platform includes revising curriculum to reflect project based learning and a diversified literature selection in English class to include authentic representations of minority groups as well as bridging the achievement gap. More about her candidacy can be found at nimah4smob.weebly.com.

The countywide SMOB election will be conducted on April 25, 2018, on which all 84,504 MCPS high school and middle school students will vote for the 41st SMOB.

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