The Student Member of the Board (SMOB) is a leadership opportunity that high school students in Montgomery County may run for each year. The winner of the SMOB election will sit on the Montgomery County Public School Board as a student representative and may contribute and vote on matters about: collective bargaining, budgets, school closings, reopenings and boundaries.
The SMOB acts as the student body’s voice. The competitive SMOB election runs from January to April, and within this timeline, a lot of effort goes into the process of being elected. First, the candidate must fill out a candidate nomination form to participate in the race. Once approved to be a candidate, the student is required to attend a mandatory SMOB meeting where they will learn about the election process, protocols, expectations of the role and the current scope of work.
Second, there is a “Meet the Candidates” experience where finalists partake in a pre-recorded interview that explains each candidate’s ideas and perspectives on specific SMOB issues. They are asked to convey what they intend to contribute to the student body as a whole.
On election day, students fill out ballots and vote for the candidate they want to elect. and by the end of the day, the election winner is announced.
Additionally, there is a student-driven Special Elections Committee (SEC) which handles the logistical details of running the SMOB election. The SEC can be students from either middle or high school, which allows students to get involved with the SMOB election even if they are not yet old enough to run for SMOB.
This year, Montgomery County’s two SMOB finalists are Henry Kaye and Hana O’Looney, both juniors at Richard Montgomery High School, where many past SMOB have attended.
Kaye says if elected he will “Mainly put solutions into action for; college & career readiness, counseling, special education programs, balanced budget, return to in-person learning, environment/infrastructure and nicotine & addiction.”
You may find this information and more on Kaye’s website: www.henrysmob.com
O’Looney plans to work on: “student welfare, improving the curriculum, innovation, opportunity gap and communication.” You may find O’Looney’s plans at www.hana4smob.com.
Both of these candidates strive to bring change and progress to MCPS. You can find a timeline and more information about the SMOB election at https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/.
Article by Isabella Silver of Winston Churchill High SchoolGraphic by Angelina Guhl of Richard Montgomery High School