Exclusive Interview with SMOB finalist Yoseph Zerihun

The Montgomery County Student Member of the Board (SMOB) Election will be held this week on April 19. The SMOB is a voting member of the Board of Education (BOE) elected solely by students. You can read more about the BOE structure here.

You can read more about the finalists on the MCPS site but we have interviewed both of them and you can see answers from Yoseph Zerihun of Springbrook below. We have also done research on historic SMOBs as it relates to the schools of the finalists.

SMOB and Student representation

Both of the finalists schools have had numerous SMOBs.  What support structure is in place at your school that cultivates student leaders?

So at Springbrook right now there aren’t many support structures and that’s one thing that I’m fighting for. Understanding that a lot of the SMOBs come from the same schools in the same areas. That number you know, Springbrook having six SMOBs that came in a completely different time in the school, and in a completely different time in the county. We’re in a new time, a new era, and it’s been proven that Springbrook has really stepped away from the advocacy circles, stepped away from leadership. It’s very hard for students to get involved, given the many barriers that there are for students and that’s very evident today.

What will you do to ensure that the schools who have never had a SMOB are represented?

Springbrook is in the same area with a lot of these schools being from the down County. But, there are also a lot of schools like Gaithersburg high school and a few others. These are from underrepresented areas, and personally, I’ve lived in these areas. I still live in Gaithersburg, I attend Springbrook in Silver Spring. So community wise, I’ll be connecting with the students, but also my SMOB advisory cabinet. The cabinet advisors meet with policies and things of that sort. One new idea that I have for that if I get elected is that I will have school represented representatives from each secondary school (middle and high schools) to ensure that each school can give me input and feedback. And ultimately, each school gets a voice.

MCPS Discipline

Do you think MCPS gives teachers and admin the ability to effectively discipline students?

I would say yes. They’re both able to punish students when it comes to detentions in school suspensions and other disciplinary methods. When it comes to these situations, a lot of students asked me saying: “Oh, can you like, stop this? Can you stop that?” I always said it’s by administration basis because it is, I think they have a lot of leeway and a lot of authority when it comes to that. But with punishments in general, I’ve been against those. I would like to stray away from punishment and focus more on reteaching rehabilitation and methods like that.

What do you think is and isn’t working as far as Restorative Justice in MCPS?

Especially strict punishments they they simply don’t work. And one example that I want to talk about is something I’m very passionate about is the ongoing opioid crisis. At my school, when the crisis first emerged, and when they started getting publicity. The first thing our principal said was, if you are caught using opioids, you will be suspended for five days and I will recommend you for expulsion. And that obviously struck fear for a lot of students, and a lot of students did not want to open up and seek out the resources and help because it’s effecting students lives. So I think training these practices and training these policies to show that we’re county with welcoming arms, open arms. And In instances like these, we want to help students rather than hurt them and we all simply want the student’s success. So when it comes to that I think we should focus less on these punishments and focus more on making sure students can reach out and get the help that they seek.

What do you think can and should be done about the rise of anti Semitism and other hate in MCPS?

Those types of speech and any discriminatory speech of that matter is all considered hate speech. When they come just from staff incidents and adult incidents we should have a no tolerance policy within MCPS. And immediate consequences should be taken to sort of strike fear within people. The reason why striking fear works in this instance is because they have no place within our schools. It’s really hard when you’ve created a very unsafe learning environment. We want to show our learning environment safe and is open. That being said, incidents where there are students, we should focus a little bit less on this punishments but still maintain that there will be punishment there will be consequences. When you are bringing another student down and using hate speech at them. But also understanding that students are still learning and growing. Giving them opportunities to grow, to learn about these instances to learn about what the Holocaust was when it comes to anti Semitism. I spoke with a lot of middle schoolers especially and they don’t understand the extent that the Holocaust was, the travesties and deaths that occurred. They treat anti Semitism as nothing, they think of it as nothing. Just ensuring that with students we get more leeway than with adults. There’s no place at all within our schools for any discriminatory hate speech.

More personal open ended questions

If the school board gave you $1 million to spend on schools as you wish, what would you do?

It’s a really hard question just because there are so many options. I would say going back into fighting the opioid crisis, just because that’s been my biggest priority. So doing whatever we can to hire drug counselors within our schools and making Narcan more accessible. Those are two things that I’m really pushing for. Just the safety of students matters the most. Right now Narcan is in the main office and the health room. I want them to be with the AED kits (the heart attack kits) and the CPR kits, those are all over the schools.

What do you do for self care and how would you work to promote school-life balance for all students?

Taking a break and understanding scheduling is one big thing that I think should be pushed on students to an extent. Taking breaks is one thing that’s really central for everybody. Doing whatever finds you joy which could be sitting down and watching Netflix, going outside on a walk for me. I do also love to cook and bake. So I find joy in that area and hanging out with friends. Do whatever makes you happy for a little bit but also understanding that when you work, you work when you play, you play. We have to understand that so we can have a good work life balance. These are lessons I had to learn myself actually, throughout this entire process. I’m still suited to this, but we’re all growing together.

What issues do students find important that aren’t being discussed by MCPS, the BOE and the county at large?

One thing that I’m hearing a lot from middle schoolers is advocacy for these cool math games and websites. And what I hear a lot from all students is advocacy for school lunches. And when it comes to one of these methods, I think student input should be added to these. For example, when it comes to websites they blocked Spotify, and YouTube for middle schools. And you have it for high school but you don’t have it for middle schools. It’s really interesting point because a lot of students use music to focus and study and I think that perspective wasn’t really brought to the table. When it comes to school lunches they should be taste tested by students and should be more accessible to students. So whenever it comes to regarding different diets like halal, kosher, gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, things like that, it should accommodate all students. So just ensuring that the student voice and the student input is heard on these decisions is really, really essential.

What do you think the student viewpoint on how MCPS is handling learning loss? Do students perceive they’ve experienced learning loss?  Do they care?

I think a lot of students can attest that they didn’t really learn much over the pandemic. And it’s a really common theme. It’s scary when you think about it and every student is scared to an extent about learning loss. I know me personally one thing is that I didn’t pick up too much in geometry. So that part of my brain is just a little bit, a little bit dim. I think all students notice the issues, they see the issues. They know that we should have some sort of program where you can regain that knowledge especially when you’re taking standardized testing and knowledge that you were expected to learn over the pandemic didn’t really click with you. I think it’s really important that we have free learning opportunities, but don’t force it upon all students.

What role do you think parents should have in MCPS related issues?

I think parents do have critical role, especially because students are maturing. Our brains haven’t fully developed until you’re 25. I think that’s it’s good to make sure that the parents, the guardians, the people responsible for the students, also have an input because ultimately they control and they have legal responsibility for the students. So they want to make sure that they have legal responsible for what they’re learning, and they can advocate for the students if students can’t. To that extent, however, parent voice should not be the only voice considered. When we were having boundary analysis hearings, parents were saying my kids are scared about leaving their friends or whatever so we should stop this boundary analysis. And I can guarantee you in every single interaction I’ve had students have not cared that much about losing friends or anything when they’ve understood that they come with underlying equity issues. So just ensuring that parents aren’t advocating for what they think their students want and really don’t, and just ensuring that student voices are heard equally or even slightly higher than the parent voice. I have said, as SMOB I’m gonna ignore the parent voice because those are my constituents, I have to represent the students. So in all instances, you got to represent the students.

What is the most pressing issue at your school and how do you think that differs from schools in other parts of the county?

Equity issues there and opportunity gap issues and disparities are apparent everywhere. And when you go to schools in the down County, like Springbrook, you see these equity issues present when there is a lack of resources, buildings aren’t up to date. Especially as a SMOB candidate going on school visits, you go to other parts of the county that are much nicer schools, more resources, more clubs, more funds in general, and you just really see that difference and it’s eye opening. For example, today I went to Walt Whitman High School. Walt Whitman is a great school, they do have quite a few issues. They have a lot of issues of their own, including issues of anti Semitism, race and discriminatory behavior and things like that. And those are things that we should really fix and ensure they get their voice heard on that. But one thing to note is that it’s a really good school so separate from what I mentioned previously, the school in and of itself, the community and everything, they have a lot of funds, they have a lot of access to resources. So when you see that school and then I came back to Springbrook, you’re seeing a difference in two worlds. So just equity issues in general within the county. I think they are apparent everywhere and they really target schools like Springbrook.

Short questions

Do you support reinstating final exams?

I do not just due to the stress that it causes among students. We have to be aware of mental health concerns. There’s a reason they were eliminated and students how should they can retain stuff at a higher rate as well. I want to make sure that one exam doesn’t define a student’s academic career as well.

Do you favor the 50 percent rule? What are your thoughts on it?

I do because it allows students to get opportunities in which missing one assignment doesn’t take their entire grade and they can ultimately focus on getting the assignments in and learning and on behavior and not worrying too much about grades. It’s been proven with equity reasons and representation reasons why the 50% rule is necessary. There are concerns I know especially when it comes to grade inflation in speaking about the county. I’ve been told when you apply to colleges, subtract .25 from your weighted GPA just because of how bad it is. I think we can address grade inflation in other methods but the 50% rule is needed for equity reasons, I believe.

Do you support the science of reading?

That’s interesting new system. I’m not too aware on it. First thoughts are yes just because we should be valuing and making sure that students have the systemic knowledge necessary to continue on past the basic words and the patterns that they’re learning. Making sure that they learned, the foundational pattern first to then learn other patterns afterwards when it comes to reading in general

Do you support a required financial literacy course?

Yes, all students should be able to understand and get life skills from their schools.

See interview with the other SMOB finalist Sami Saeed below

Exclusive Interview with SMOB finalist Sami Saeed
https://moderatelymoco.com/contact/

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