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January Executive Board Meeting Recap



To kick off the first MCR Executive Board meeting of the new year, Zoom participants decked out in their best gold, black, and silver outfits to represent the New Year's theme. The Zoom chat was immediately flooded with wishes for a Happy New Year minutes prior to 6 PM.


The meeting was called to order at 6:06 PM and the agenda and minutes were approved shortly after.


The MCJC report consisted of information about the Finance Department coordinating their Financial Literacy Workshop. They were also excited to announce that an event during the MCR February Executive Board meeting hosted by the MCJC was in the works. The MCJC’s Legislative Affairs Department has been working hard, drafting legislation regarding advocacy, MCJC policy, and other legislative topics in MCPS. To end off their recap, they presented that the Public Relations Department was set to work on an MCJC recap. Check out the MCJC here: https://www.mcjcsga.org/.


Following the MCJC report, MCR Treasurer Maahe Kunvar presented the MCR Finance Report for January. In a continuation from the December Executive Board meeting, she announced to a happy MCR Executive Board that MCR merchandise including t-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, bucket hats, and tote bags were available for sale in colors white, gray, black, and navy.


Next up was the Student Member of the Board, Hana O’Looney, with her monthly updates. She gave some clarity on the state of MCPS schools closing and going virtual due to COVID-19. Ms. O’Looney then informed participants of the MCPS operating budget, which will be used for resources, organizations, and materials. It was made clear that the operating budget was separate from an infrastructure budget. She also made it a priority to inform participants that the filing period for the 45th Student Member of the Board was now open and that any interested individuals should file for candidacy. She closed by telling anyone with any questions or wanting to talk about any issues were free to email her or reach out to her via Instagram direct messages. After her initial update, she spent time answering questions from participants in the meeting regarding school closures and COVID-19 policies.


Sign up here to opt in for in-school COVID-19 tests: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cognitoforms.com

Hana’s Instagram: @hanaolooney

Hana’s email: Hana_O’Looney@mcpsmd.org

Following Ms. O’Looney’s update, meeting participants were split into breakout rooms where everyone wrote virtual letters to patients at St. Jude’s Children Hospital, writing encouraging and caring messages to children at the hospital.

Returning from the breakout rooms, participants had the honor to meet a star-studded alumni panel of former SMOBs and MCR Members consisting of Layna Teitelbaum, Nick Asante, Andrea Anaya, Pranav Tadikonda, Robert Wachen, Paris Brady, Gabby Diaz, Simon Debesai, and Ananya Tadikonda. The panel answered questions prepared by the MCR officers then answered questions from participants. Among the panel were former MCR Presidents, MCPS SMOBs, and MCR Executive Board members.

After an extensive Q&A session with the panel, the meeting took a brief 10 minute break to refresh, stretch, and hydrate. Make sure to always stay hydrated!

Coming back from the break, departments went off into breakout rooms where departments met and discussed upcoming projects.

After breakout rooms closed, the Special Elections Committee (SEC) gave a presentation on filing for candidacy for the position of 45th SMOB. The requirements to be eligible for the position of Student Member of the Board are as follows: must be a current sophomore/junior and must be a student enrolled in MCPS. The SEC also made it very clear that if someone files for candidacy, they are not allowed to start campaigning until their candidacy is approved by the SEC.

Following the SEC update, the MCR officers initiated the process of swearing in new MCR Executive Board members Meklit Tesemaa (Social Coordinator), Brinna Lin (Service Coordinator), Amanda Kossof (Service Coordinator), Kidan Williams (Special Elections Deputy). Welcome to the family!

The spirit winners for the gold, black, and silver New Year’s theme were Heera Anand (Legislative Affairs), Meley Ghermay (School Communications), and Whittaker Johnston (Legislative Affairs), who attended the meeting decked out in spirit wear. Congrats Heera, Meley, and Whittaker!

The members of the month were the webmasters Lulu August, Natalie Weger, and Aba Owubah. Congrats Lulu, Natalie, and Aba on your hard work!

Happy Birthday to Quynhan Nguyen (6th), Alexandra-Joy Kouemou (9th), Ella Kotok (11th), Hana O’Looney (12th), Michael Tran (20th), Valerie Hoang (21st), Bayush Getachew (23rd) , Pelin Altintas (29th), and Norah D’Cruze (30th)!

To conclude the evening, Mrs. Shella Cherry gave participants the Advisor Report, where she reminded students to check their school emails for the January edition of the student newsletter, “StudentView”.

With that, the first MCR Executive Board meeting of 2022 came to a close, with participants looking forward to a productive year filled with memories. MCR President Shairee Arora encouraged participants to get tested, vaccinated, “boosted” (COVID-19 booster shot), and to mask up, in order to reduce the spread and keep everyone safe. The call to adjourn the meeting was seconded and the meeting came to a close four minutes ahead of schedule at 7:56 PM.

Happy New Year!

Written by Eugene Choi

Published by PR Department


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