In Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), high school students compete and campaign to become the next Student Member of the Board (SMOB) of the county. Candidates are active student advocates in the county who are passionate about the student body and making changes in their community. At the Nomination Convention, two final candidates are selected to compete for student votes. To determine who the next SMOB will be, middle and high school students throughout MCPS vote for the candidate of their liking. Once elected, the SMOB member is responsible for representing the student body’s voice in conversations related to budgeting, school closings, boundary lines, and more. The current Student Member of the Board, Hana O’Looney, has made significant changes in the county throughout her term. She organized the Healthy Teen Dating Festival, which served to educate students about unhealthy relationships and abuse. Additionally, O’Looney worked to get HB 208 passed, which provides free menstrual products in bathrooms across the county. O’Looney’s very successful term has come to an end, but the next SMOB will definitely make just as big of an impact. For the 45th SMOB election, two final candidates have been selected, one of which is Arvin Kim.
Arvin Kim is a junior at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland. He is a very active member in the MCPS community and started his journey in student advocacy in sixth grade. Arvin is the Chief of Staff for the Montgomery County Regional SGA, Vice President of the Asian American Progressive Student Union (AAPSU), and a certified workshop presenter.
One of Kim’s focuses is the MCPS curriculum. Kim strives to work with students to create a more diverse variety of courses accessible. He wants more enriching social studies and art courses provided throughout schools in the county. Additionally, he vows to ensure that all courses have a variety of study materials and content. In choosing these new courses, Kim wants the student body to provide him with ideas and feedback so he can work towards classes that would benefit the majority. Furthermore, he wants to promote courses that teach LGBTQIA+ and Asian American Studies. Kim’s goal is to launch more accessible and approachable classes for MCPS students.
Kim is a large advocate for equity and equality, especially in the LGBTQIA+ community. He hopes to make sure there are gender neutral restrooms and that students can easily change their preferred names and pronouns on school forms. He wants to implement anti-hate teaching in schools to ensure that students are educated and aren’t being discriminated against by peers who do not know any better. Additionally, he wants to revise the current curriculum to be more inclusive to students of color. This is a big step in the curriculum, as some students of color are currently feeling underrepresented. Implementing anti-hate teaching will also ensure that descriminition in schools will lessen. To further promote racial equality, Arvin’s goal is to work on the opportunity gap by making sure school boundaries do not determine the quality of education for students from different boundaries. Sticking with Hana O’Looney’s plans, Kims will continue advocating for free menstrual products in schools.
Kim’s campaign promises equity, equality, an increase in student support, a greater representation of the student voice, and much more. His campaign is beneficial for the student body and would greatly impact the county. To learn more about his platform and advocacy journey, check out his Instagram and website!
This article was written by Ashlesha Dhakal of Northwest High School.
Photo courtesy of Arvin Kim via Twitter