New Student Member of the Board Tim Hwang hopes to use his newfound leadership position to better directly address the needs of students.

Last April, 56.4 percent of Montgomery County middle and high school students voted to elect the Wootton senior, who had previously served as his class president and campaigned for Obama. Hwang said his desire to become student member of the board resulted from his work on the presidential campaign.

“I came off with a feeling of restlessness,” he said. “I really wanted to do something to help students voice their opinions after that exciting and inclusive campaign.”

Hwang officially become the SMOB following a swearing-in ceremony in July. Since then, he has made it a priority to increase communication between students and the BOE. The first initiative he launched is SMOB 2.0, a new organization that allows student representatives from every high school and middle school in Montgomery County to meet and share school related issues once a month with him and MCPS staff. SMOB 2.0’s first meeting took place on Sept. 10 at the Carver Education Service Center.

Students involved in SMOB 2.0 also participate in communication committees that create newsletters, blogs, and videos to keep students informed. In the past, many students say that they were unaware of the changes SMOB members implemented.

“We listen to their speeches, we vote for them and by the end of the year you forget who they are,” junior Danielle Newsham said.

Hwang hopes to initiate successful communication, but he believes it can only be achieved if students put forth effort and show interest in the changes he makes as SMOB.

“I am going to try my best to get people engaged and informed,” he said. “But at a certain point, students also have to take an interest.”

Hwang also supports student usage of cell phones during lunch. Currently, this policy is being piloted at Blaire to determine if students can refrain from sexting, cheating, and other inappropriate cell phone usage. Hwang hopes that the policy will be extended to all high school students by the end of this year.

Ultimately, Hwang says he needs the support of the students to successfully meet their needs as SMOB.

“At the end of the day it’s going to be students making the decision about proactively looking at their schools for any issues they see.”