The following is a developing story. More details and information will be added as it is received by The Pitch.
WJ junior Reemey Ghermay was announced as a finalist for the 49th MCPS Student Member of the Board of Education (SMOB).
The announcement followed the SMOB Nominating Convention held Wednesday morning at Watkins Mill High School, where delegates from every MCPS middle and high school got to vote to narrow the candidate pool from eight candidates down to the final two.
“When she won, the whole team was very excited that we got a finalist, and she ended up in the top two because that was something we were mainly worried about when we were going in and prepping.” sophomore campaign staff member Mackenzie Cho said. “We thought the Q&A was good. The speech was a bit rocky, but it was fine. I think everybody was excited to see how the hard work would pay off because everybody on the campaign team had helped her with her speech, with posts, and anything [else]. So it was good to see the work pay off.”
During her opening speech at the convention, Ghermay started out by asking the audience to turn on their phone flashlights and hold them up high. She pointed out how bright and diverse the auditorium was, and that the phone lights represent MCPS at its best. “Together, the future is bright” she stated, inspiring hope to the delegates at the Nominating convention.
This was Ghermay’s way of emphasizing her campaign platform “BRIGHT.” The B stands for building better schools, R is for responding to mental health concerns, I is for implementing inclusive lunches, G is for guaranteeing student safety, H is for honoring equity and T is for transparency, accountability and representation.
Ghermay will be running against fellow SMOB finalist Leul Dawit, a current sophomore at Northwood High School. Around 80,000 Montgomery County middle and high school students will vote for the new SMOB in the final election on April 22.
“It’s been something I wanted to do since like 6th grade,” Ghermay said. “So it was like achieving a dream. It teaches you hard work, and so I’m grateful for the opportunity and for all the people that supported me. The entire experience has been great, and I’m excited to continue campaigning for another two months.”
Ghermay has a wealth of prior leadership experiences, as her leadership roles include as an MCR legislative deputy, class of ‘27 president, serving on current SMOB Anuva Maloo’s Student Advisory Council as boundary study deputy and communications director for former MCPS Board of Education member Lynne Harris. She has also founded the MoCo Period organization, working to provide access to menstrual products, and the Mending the Gap organization which works to provide support to senior communities.
“I think [Ghermay being named a finalist] it’s very cool,” sophomore SMOB Nom-Con delegate Thomas Hamilton said. “I think it’s amazing that we have someone from WJ running to represent us on a county level, and I think that’s very good for her, and I’m very excited to see how this campaign plays out.”
