Newly Elected MCPS Student Member of the Board Hana O’Looney Shares Education Priorities
Richard Montgomery High School junior Hana O’Looney has been elected the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB) for the 2021-2022 school year. O’Looney’s term begins on July 1, 2021.
MyMCM spoke with O’Looney to learn about her education priorities for her upcoming term and how she managed her campaign efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the MCPS website, all secondary students were eligible to vote virtually in the SMOB election and nearly 33,000 students cast ballots. O’Looney received 78.3% of the vote, while her opponent, Henry Kaye, a junior at Richard Montgomery High School, received 21.3%. This SMOB election was held remotely on April 22–23 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nick Asante is the incumbent SMOB.
Asante Reflects on Tenure as Student Member of the Board During Pandemic
Nick Asante, 18, is a long-time fan of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Although he joked that his friends make fun of him for it, he’s a proud “Swiftie” so much so that he took to Reddit to pen an elaborate fan theory about Swift’s 2020 album “Folklore.”
Asante, or tswiftconspiracist13 as he’s known on Reddit, gained popularity with his album analysis. Buzzfeed and Bustle even wrote articles about his 800-word post.
“It was the peak of my past year,” he said.
However, this is by no means his only accomplishment. The Richard Montgomery High School senior is also the 43rd Montgomery County Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB). He has been instrumental in passing several landmark actions from installing free menstrual hygiene products in school bathrooms to electrifying the school bus fleet.
Nine MCPS Students Awarded Corporate-Sponsored National Merit Scholarships
Nine Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) seniors from five high schools have been awarded corporate-sponsored scholarships in the first round of the annual National Merit Scholarships.
These scholarships, which range from $1,000 to $10,000 per year, are financed by corporations, company foundations, and other business organizations. The scholarships may either be renewable for four years of undergraduate study or one-time awards.
The students are among approximately 1,000 seniors nationwide to be selected as part of the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, according to a National Merit Scholarship Corporation news release. The scholars were selected from a pool of 17,000 students who were finalists in the National Merit Scholarship competition and met the criteria of their scholarship sponsors.
O’Looney elected next student member of Montgomery County school board
Richard Montgomery junior will be sworn in on July 1
April 23, 2021 | 8:37 pm
Screenshot via MCPS video
Richard Montgomery High School junior Hana O’Looney will be the next student member of the Montgomery County Board of Education.
O’Looney will be sworn in for her one-year term on July 1, replacing fellow Richard Montgomery student Nick Asante, the current student board member.
All middle and high school students were eligible to vote in the election, and about 33,000 cast a ballot, according to MCPS.
O’Looney, the vice president of the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association, received about 78% of all votes. Her challenger, Henry Kaye, received about 21%. Kaye is also a junior at Richard Montgomery.
Plus: MCPS will solicit proposals for search firm for next superintendent; 18 MCPS teachers receive national certification
April 22, 2021 | 8:00 pm
April 22, 2021
USDA extends waivers for free meals through June 2022
The United States Department of Agriculture announced this week it is extending waivers through the 2021-22 academic year that allow school districts to distribute meals to children at no cost.
The extension will last until June 2022. Before this week’s announcement, the waivers would have expired in September.
The waivers, used by MCPS, allow meals to be served at no cost, in bulk and to parents without their children being present. They were first passed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as worries about food insecurity rose.