Bunmi Omisore, a junior at Arundel High School, has been elected by members of the Chesapeake Regional Association of Student Councils (CRASC) to be the 2021-2022 student member of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education (SMOB).
The results were announced today on CRASC’s Twitter page, @CRASC_Online. Fletcher Port of Severna Park High School and Natalie Smith of Broadneck High School were the other finalists for the position.
Bunmi’s name will be forwarded to Governor Larry Hogan, who must make the formal appointment. She would succeed current SMOB Drake Smith of Meade High School, whose one-year term expires in June.
Bunmi said she will focus her efforts on the post COVID-19 return to school, curriculum revisions to include more representation of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ communities, expanding learning opportunities for neurodiverse students, and increasing education on healthy relationships for teens and dating violence prevention.
“I am speechless, knowing that I have made two great friends during this election with my fellow candidates,” said Bunmi, a first-generation American whose parents emigrated from Nigeria. “I have the support of the students on Anne Arundel County, I feel like the luckiest girl. Knowing that I am the first SMOB from Arundel High School in 17 years and the first Nigerian member of the Board is surreal.”
Bunmi is a co-founder of Arundel High School’s Equity Leadership Council, a group formed to address school-wide equity concerns. She plans and leads weekly forums and has helped to create professional development content for the school’s staff.
In addition, Bunmi recently led an anti-racism book study for students and staff to explore issues of race and facilitated a similar study that was open to members of the Odenton, Crofton, and Gambrills communities.
She is a member of the Board of Directors of Modern Divergence, a student-led organization centered around spreading awareness of mental health issues and neurodiversity. She also serves as a member of Superintendent George Arlotto’s Teen Advisory Committee.
Upon appointment, Bunmi will become the 48th student member of the Board. She will be the fifth Arundel High School student to serve on the Board, and the first since 2004-2005. Students have held a seat on the Board since 1974, when Andover High School’s Jeffrey Robinson served in an advisory capacity. Anne Arundel’s student member has had full voting rights since 1975 and is the only member of a local school board in the nation to have that status.
If appointed, Bunmi would assume her seat on July 1, 2021.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools Student Member of the Board of Education History