Governor Wes Moore submitted his recommendations to select Crossland High School junior O’Marie Barnes to serve as Maryland’s 2025-2026 State SMOB, Feb. 18.
Barnes will replace Abhiram Gaddam, the current state SMOB and a Parkside High School senior.
Barnes currently serves as the Student Government President at Crossland High School. He has experience on the Maryland Youth Advisory Council and Congressman Glenn Ivey’s Advisory Council. Barnes also served as the Vice President of Membership in Prince George’s County Young Democrats.
Barnes stated that he chose to run for State SMOB because he understands the importance of the role for the students of Maryland.
“The Student Member on the Maryland State Board of Education is the voice for nearly one million public school students in Maryland,” Barnes said. “The job is to hear the students and bring their concerns to the Board of Education.”
Barnes’ campaign focused on strengthening foundational academics, providing students with transportation support and increasing funding for community schooling. He advocated for expanding the guidelines for chronic absenteeism to exclude illness. Additionally, he expressed support for the ongoing fight to close the COVID-19 educational gap.
“I ran on providing remedial courses for students that are struggling in the math and ELA curriculums so that we can make sure that students have a strong foundation as they go into post-secondary careers,” Barnes said.
The Maryland Association of Student Councils (MASC) allows each public high school in Maryland to nominate one student for the State SMOB position annually. Nominees undergo an application and interview process, after which up to five finalists attend the Winter Conference.
Maryland held its first Winter Leadership Conference of the MASC at Walter Johnson High School to select two student finalists, participate in workshops and discuss young Marylanders’ viewpoints on advancing legislation, Jan. 25. MASC delegates selected O’Marie Barnes and Zaria Naqvi to advance in the election. In previous years, the state SMOB finalists were elected at a convention, Barnes said.
Churchill Junior Zaria Naqvi was the runner-up to Barnes in the State SMOB election. She advocated addressing the educational gap and regaining Maryland’s high rankings in education and standardized test scores. Naqvi said she learned a valuable lesson through her candidacy.
“I talked to a lot of different students to make sure that my platform was representative of all the students in the state,” Naqvi said. “I learned about more issues and students’ personal experiences. Overall, it helped me a lot with my public speaking skills.”
The Senate will confirm Governor Wes Moore’s appointment in a hearing at an announced date. Barnes will swear in on July 1 to serve for the 2025-2026 school year.
Barnes emphasized his passion for the future of education and student representation.
“I have a genuine love for helping people and wanting to bring people together, wanting to make sure that everyone is represented, and wanting to push our school system forwards together,” Barnes said.
