Kate Elizabeth Kidwell, a 16-year-old junior at Fallston High School, was elected as the 22nd Student Representative to the Board of Education of Harford County by the Harford County Regional Association of Student Councils (HCRASC) at the group’s meeting at C. Milton Wright High School on March 18th.
Kate will be shadowing current SROB (Student Representative on the Board), D.J. Sigworth, Jr. for the remainder of his term until she takes over July 1, 2009. She has been attending Board meetings since March and intends on being a regular at the sessions as she prepares to take on the responsibility of being the students’ voice on the Board. The fifth Fallston High senior who will serve as representative for the 40,000 Harford County Public School students, Ms. Kidwell says her goals for the coming year are similar, but different than those who came before her.
“I definitely plan on increasing student awareness and communication, most likely through the establishment of a website or blog to solicit feedback from students,” Kate said of her upcoming term. “I will also continue to fight for partial student voting rights for the SROB.”
Much like her predecessors, Kate will strive to obtain voting rights for the student representative, which she believes will give a voice to the student body of Harford County Public Schools. For the 21 years a student representative has been on the Board, the position’s vote is recorded as preferential, meaning it is non-binding on the outcome of the proposal.
With a 4.4 GPA at Fallston High School, Kate is a member of the Future Business Leaders of America, the Academic Team, the Student Book Club, Tri-M Music Honor Society, French Honor Society and the National Honor Society. She also plays varsity tennis and is a member of the concert band and marching band. She said she is looking forward to representing the students of Harford County and interacting with the seven members of the Board of Education of Harford County for the next year.
In her spare time, Kate enjoys reading books, particularly mystery stories. She also plays tennis all summer and attends all of her brother’s metro baseball games.
The daughter of Karen and Richard Kidwell of Fallston, Kate also has one brother, Adam, who is 12 and attends Fallston Middle School. She plans on attending a four-year college or university to study either Pre-Law or Forensic Psychology in the fall of 2010.
Kate is also a Carson Scholar, and tutors math from what I gather. Here’s hoping she gets her message across to the board!