School hosts first MCR meeting of year with Senator Van Hollen as guest speaker
Monica Godnick
news editor
Two options, one vote. SMOB Ananya Tadikonda presented two propositions for the 2019-2020 MCPS calendar on Oct. 24. Option 1, establishing a longer spring break with just one professional day. Option 2, reduce the length of spring break and increase to three the number of professional days.
The students in the auditorium voted by raising their hands and the room was divided between the two choices. The students’ preferences are not binding, but are important to the SMOB. “Please help me by getting your peers to DM or email me and let me know what option you prefer,” Tadikonda said.
The school hosted the first MCR meeting of the year in the auditorium. Representatives of various MCPS schools convened in the auditorium and Senator Chris Van Hollen was a guest speaker.
Senior David Mejía explained that MCR stands for Montgomery County Regional SGA, where students from all around the county meet and work on projects to address issues and help students. “There’s a bunch of committees that work on special issues or topics,” Mejía said.
SGA Co-Presidents Aaron Lazar and Liam Hall welcomed all the groups of students and introduced the school’s future plans. “We just had one of the best attended homecoming dances in our school’s history, and we are currently working in conjunction with our Wellness Committee to organize Wootton’s very first ‘Wellness Day,’ which is a non-instructional half day in mid-November. With that being said we would love to hear with what is going on regarding wellness at your schools,” Lazar said.
Tadikonda gave general updates on what she has been focused on recently with the Board of Education. “Most recently we talked about the school year calendar, and the ‘SMOB Minute’ video that should be playing at all schools. I would really appreciate if you guys could get your morning announcement adviser to play it in your schools because it is the only way for me to get out to every single student. It is the only place that is constant for me,” Tadikonda said.
Tadikonda also said that she supported former SMOB Matt Post in his proposition for an amendment regarding the FAA Policy. The policy sets rules on boundaries and facilities and the amendment proposed puts special weight to diversity in boundary studies. Tadikonda said that the amendment proposed recently was passed by the Board, “which is a huge step towards progress in our county.”
The SMOB said that public hearings about boundaries and facilities will be held by the Board on Nov. 8 and Nov. 12. “You can come and talk about things you would like to see when it comes to facilities and boundaries,” Tadikonda said.
Van Hollen emphasized that voter registration has great importance and even though many students are not old enough to vote, they can still make an impact on election results. “Even if you can’t vote, if you go out and persuade people who weren’t planning to vote and they share your views and values, you just added two or three votes to your agenda,” Van Hollen said.
SGA member sophomore Owen Matus is a new member of the MCR committee and participated in the meeting. “It was really interesting getting to hear from Van Hollen since he’s our state senator, and he represents us where it really matters. Being a part of MCR makes me feel like I can make a real change in my community, especially when someone like Van Hollen comes to speak with us and hear what we have to say,” Matus said.
MCR Vice President Pranav Tadikonda (SMOB’s brother) was also on the stage during the assembly. “Wootton High School did an excellent job hosting the October General Assembly. I can’t expect anything less from them. I’m working towards increasing representation to the MCR General Assemblies so that more students can get their voices heard and hear from others,” Pranav Tadikonda said.
