South River High School Puts Forward Student for Open Board of Education Seat

South River High School’s Jillian Buck is one of three finalists left standing after the initial rounds of interviews for the open student Anne Arundel County Board of Education seat. The student member will be elected by the Chesapeake Regional Association of Student Councils (CRASC) and appointed by the governor. The CRASC elections will take place during a meeting at Chesapeake Arts Center in Brooklyn Park on March 24.

Anne Arundel County is the only jurisdiction in the nation that gives a student  member of the Board of Education full voting rights.

Buck attended Crofton Woods Elementary School before heading to Crofton Middle School. In a recent interview Buck, 17, said that she has wanted to serve as the student  member for five years.

“My first-ever CRASC meeting was in sixth grade,” Buck said.

She said that that was when she knew she wanted to serve. She has worked toward that goal ever since.

Buck served on the student council at her school, and she has been her school’s liaison to CRASC. In addition she will be the Anne Arundel County liaison to the Maryland Association of Student Council (MASC) convention in Ocean City next weekend.

If elected to the board, Buck said that one of her main goals is closing the achievement gap. She also likes some of the vertical teaming initiatives being trialed in the Chesapeake feeder system.

Vertical teaming is when teachers from different grades get together and look at curriculum and teaching methods that can help students transition seamlessly from grade to grade. Vertical teams are often especially focused on the transition between elementary/middle and between middle/high grades, where teachers may or may not currently communicate on a regular basis.

Buck does have an interest in public service in the future, but for now she is focused on college where she is looking forward to majoring in chemical engineering with a minor in international engineering. After that, she’d like to work in the non-profit sector.

She sees a future role in politics though, maybe running for elected office after spending time in the non-profit world. 

For now, she runs cross-country, she’s on the PowerHawks robotics team, she is a Girl Scout, a member of the National Honor Society, and is active at her church, Community United Methodist in Crofton.

As for the upcoming election, Buck is ready for the challenge of telling her peers why they should select her. “I feel that I’m extremely qualified. I have a lot of passion for student leadership and having an effect on something,” Buck said.

Buck said that she has also had a lot of interaction with two former student board members including Katie Scruggs, the 2010-2011 board member who is a senior at South River and a personal friend of Buck. She's also close with Collin Wojciechowski, who was the 2008-2009 board member and has been a mentor and friend as well.

The other finalists for the board seat are Alexander Berman of Annapolis High School and Olivia Goldberg of Severna Park High School.

The student board member serves for one term during his or her senior year of high school and receives a $6,000 college scholarship.