Why get involved? 

Student Government Association (SGA) is an organization where people are student leaders who represent and advocate for their school or class. Student government strengthens your leadership skills; it helps teach you how to take an idea and follow it through its execution. In SGA, you can express your voice and fight for change. This year members of SGA were at the Board of Education meeting, helping advocate for our school and the needed renovations. However, SGA isn’t always that intense and serious. 

The SGA  also helps plan spirit weeks, Homecoming decorations, and fundraisers. Each class has a board, then there is the executive board. A class board is where the members of SGA focus on their specific class interests, while the executive board focuses on school-wide issues. The executive board can also be filled with members from any grade. Let’s meet some of the members of the newly elected class of 2027 SGA!

Meet President Mikko Parker! As President, some of his responsibilities are to organize the meetings, communicate with their adult sponsor, and lead the meetings. Mikko ran for president because he wanted to do a lot for the community and get more involved. Something he has already done as president is that he attended a meeting with the former executive board president, Rohan Warrier to speak to Superintendent Martirano to advocate for renovations for OMHS. This resulted in the superintendent coming to tour OMHS on October 6th. Mikko plans on continuing to advocate for OMHS and also wants to help inspire students because he believes that the conditions can make it hard for students to be happy and enjoy learning. Mikko is most excited to contribute to the Oakland Mills community and wants everyone to know that they can talk to him at any time! In his free time, he enjoys practicing his many instruments and composing music. His favorite TV show is The Crown, and if he could have one power, it would be the ability to heal the world. He wants to be able to make people have the ability to form and express their own opinions without using violence.

Meet Vice President Rachel Witt! As Vice President, some of her responsibilities are to fill in for the president when he isn’t there, and to just help out with other responsibilities. Rachel ran for Vice President because she wanted to help out the community, get involved, and meet new people! As a member of SGA, she will advocate for students, and make sure anything promised will be followed through with so they can actually happen! Apart from SGA, she is most excited to be creating fun experiences for our students. She is used to the receiving end of these events, and now she gets to finally create something others can enjoy! She believes OM is a great community and everyone should get involved somehow. Outside of school, she figure skates and is a Girl Scout. She also loves photography and is learning how to sew! Her favorite movie series are Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. If she could have one superpower, she would want it to be telekinesis because she thinks it’s cool to be able to move things with your mind and not need to get up!

Meet the secretary, Kayla Robinson! As secretary, a responsibility of hers is to take notes during the meetings to keep track of what happened in order to make sure her grade is doing everything it needs to. She ran for secretary because she wanted to help people out, and she thought this would be a new cool experience! She is most excited about spirit weeks, homecoming days, hallway decorations, and literally anything else she can help out with! She said something she wants everyone to know is that they should have fun in high school. She also wants everyone to know that if anyone wants to talk to her, don’t be afraid! Outside of school, she likes trying out different food, visiting museums in DC, running track, walking around, and just being active! Her favorite TV show is New Girl and if she could have one superpower, she would want telekinesis because she likes the idea of moving things with her mind!

The other two roles are treasurer and representative. The treasurer takes care of budgeting; it’s the treasurer’s job to come up with ways to make and spend money. The treasurer for the class of 2027 is A’Kera Godfrey! The representative gives their class report at meetings and also fills a helper role. The Representative for the class of 2027 is Oceane Mbanaja! Although there are many different roles, they aren’t strict and everyone works together on most tasks.

The next election is in April, so if anyone reading this thinks SGA is for them, make sure to run! If anyone really wants to get involved, you can always talk to your class sponsor or any of the SGA members and see how you can help. 

Student Voice Council is for students who aren’t in office but want to help advocate and get involved with the school. Whether you are an extroverted person or a shy, introverted person, SGA needs and values all types of leaders. So, if you want to get involved with school initiatives and the community, SGA is the place for you!