Hafsa Hamdaoui, a rising senior at Crofton High School, will be sworn in as the 51st Student Member of the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County (SMOB) during a ceremony at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 1, 2024, in the Board Room at the Carol S. Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis.
Hamdaoui, the first-ever SMOB from Crofton High School, will succeed Eric Lin, a Severna Park High School graduate whose term ends on June 30, 2024. During her one-year term, she plans to focus on equity and mental health throughout the county.
Hamdaoui has held a litany of student leadership and service roles. She ranks first at Crofton High School in the number of service-learning hours and is in the top 10 among all county students.
In addition, she is a member of the Maryland Civic Education Coalition’s Youth Advisory Council, a team captain and founding member of the school’s Mock Trial Team and also serves on the executive committee of the school’s International Night Club where she has helped raise more than $4,200 for international children’s causes. In the just-completed school year, Hamdaoui was also vice president of Crofton’s Model UN club and a member of the Student Service Leadership team.
Students have held a seat on the Board of Education 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.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on AACPS’ YouTube channel and on AACPS-TV.