Northwest High School junior Peter Boyko and Montgomery Blair High School junior Anuva Maloo were selected as the 48th Student Member of the Board (SMOB) finalists on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at the SMOB Nominating Convention.
Over 400 delegates from all MCPS middle and high schools, including 16 from WJ, attended the convention. After two rounds of ranked choice voting, Boyko and Maloo won their spots in the final two.
Both Boyko and Maloo have extensive credentials and experience in student government and advocacy.
Boyko leads as the Co-Founder and Co-President for Eco MoCo, a student-led environmental organization with over 200 Executive Board members and volunteers. He also serves as the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association’s (MCR-SGA) education policy director and served as Assistant Chief of Staff for former Board of Education Vice President Lynne Harris.
Boyko’s platform mainly tackles rising issues of school safety in MCPS. Boyko wants to invest in weapon detection systems, stronger enforcement of ID policies and better training for security guards.
“When a student brought a loaded weapon to my school in September, I knew I had to step up… Arguing was not an option — I had to be a part of the solution. My platform pushes for real action now,” Boyko said.
Like Boyko, Maloo has a strong presence in student government, serving as her class president and Workshop Deputy for MCR-SGA. Maloo is also the Outreach Director for the Yellow Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for youth living in poverty, and MoCo Students for Change.
If elected, Maloo hopes to create better training for security guards and decrease the student-to-security guard ratio within schools. She also wants to make Narcan, an opioid overdose reversal drug, more accessible to students.
“I grew up in the NEC [Northeast Consortium] and now attend school in the DCC [Downtown Consortium], going to various other schools competing for track, swim, dance, etc,” Maloo said. “My perspective is diverse and one that can represent every student’s voice, but even if it cannot, it is not something which any other candidate can ever say they have experienced.”
At this year’s nominating convention, 10 candidates from a variety of MCPS schools ran, including two WJ students, one of whom was Junior class president and MCR-SGA secretary Anna Jhon.
Jhon made it through the first round of voting but didn’t rally enough votes to secure a spot as a finalist. While her candidacy for SMOB may be over, Jhon voiced how grateful she is for her journey as a candidate.
“Growing up, I was the older sister in my household and always looked up to leaders, but I never imagined I would become one, much less in the position of my dreams,” Jhon said. “Thus, being able to run has been an inspiring experience, allowing me to engage with students from across the county and become the mentor I always admired.”
Boyko and Maloo will continue to campaign until the SMOB election on Wednesday, April 23. Every middle and high school student in MCPS is eligible to cast their vote, determining who will win a full-voting seat on MCPS’ Board of Education.
