MCPS Student Member of the Board finalists announced

On Wednesday, Feb. 15, MCPS Special Elections (SEC) held the Student Member of the Board (SMOB) nominating convention at Watkins Mill High School where Sami Saeed and Yoseph Zerihun were announced as the two finalists out of 13 candidates for the 2023-2024 MCPS SMOB election. Saeed is a junior at Richard Montgomery High School and Zerihun is a junior at Springbrook High School.

2023-2024 SMOB Finalists

Photo: MCPS Special Elections Announces 2023-2024 SMOB Finalists via Instagram @mcpssec

MCPS Special Elections Announces 2023-2024 SMOB Finalists via Instagram @mcpssec

At the convention, there were a total of 445 delegates present. There were two rounds of voting; the first was based on the candidates’ one-minute speech. After the speeches, delegates ranked each candidate from highest preference to lowest. The second round was between the top six candidates coming out of the first round, who then responded to questions from the audience. After the question and answer session, the top two candidates were chosen. Blair junior Valerey Montenegro was one of Blair’s 16 delegates representing our student body at the nominating convention. Montenegro wanted their voice to be heard. “I wanted to represent other Latino students within the community, especially in DCC schools,” they said. 

Montenegro, along with many other delegates, has experience working with the Board of Education and the current SMOB, senior Arvin Kim from Walt Whitman High School. “I work alongside Arvin in making sure that students here have better communication in knowing the Board’s action,” they said. Hence, they decided to become a delegate to advocate for the voices of underrepresented students and help ensure that the student body is well-informed about the Board's decisions and actions.

The MCPS SMOB Election will take place on April 19 in students’ English classes.