The next student member of the Montgomery Board of Education will be a 16-year-old from Silver Spring.
About 85,000 Montgomery County middle and high school students voted Nate Tinbite in as the next student board member on Wednesday.
A junior at John F. Kennedy High School, Tinbite based his candidacy around achieving equity among all student groups, expanding mental health resources and improving technology in schools.
“I’m prepared to work with you as we expand opportunity, bring your voices to the table, and break down barriers stifling our success,” Tinbite wrote in a student voters’ guide. “But I can’t do that alone. I’m asking for you to join me on our journey today, so that we can fight together for a better tomorrow.”
Also on Tinbite’s agenda is increasing career pathways for students by expanding the Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success program to all schools. ACES, now available at 14 of the county’s 25 public high schools, provides interventions and supports to help black, Hispanic and low-income students enroll in and complete college.
He also hopes to push the school system to provide driver’s education courses at high schools.
The student representative on the eight-member school board has full voting rights on issues like the school system’s budget and personnel matters. He will begin his term in July, when current student board member Ananya Tadikonda’s term expires.
Tinbite, who received nearly three-quarters of the vote, defeated Clarksburg High School junior Zoe Tishaev. About 85% of all middle and high school students cast ballots.
Tinbite, a founding member of the countywide student activist group Montgomery County Students for Change and president of the county’s student government association, said his advocacy for students and understanding of the school system put him in a position for success.
The student school board member is not paid, but receives a $5,000 scholarship.
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
