A fellow Titan is running for Student Member of the Board, and she needs your vote! Her name is Grace Knor and she is a junior here at Tuscarora High School. Grace is very ambitious and an amazing candidate! She cares a lot about all of the students in Frederick County. Her main focuses revolve around mental health, school safety, cultural equity and pride, and focusing the curriculum on more relevant material. I interviewed her, asking her questions to help the students better understand who she is as a person and as a SMOB candidate and these are her answers.

Is there anything specific you want to change in FCPS schools?

“I would like to provide more safe spaces for students who struggle with mental health issues and increase the number of psychiatric professionals who rotate around the county. So many people are in need of a psychologist, but they simply don’t have the resources to get the help they need.”

Why did you decide to run for SMOB?

“I wanted to run for SMOB because there is nothing more powerful or beautiful than giving others a voice. A student can see issues from a completely different perspective than a Board of Education Member can, and the SMOB has the ability to unite both parties and make positive change. School is hard for all of us, but I believe that if I can provide a little more of an accepting environment for the marginalized, relieve a little more of an accepting environment for the marginalized, relieve a little bit of anxiety for someone, or give students just a little more hope, it would all be worth it.”

Why should the students vote for you over the other candidates?

“All of the candidates are incredibly gifted leaders, and any of them would do a great job! One quality that sets me apart is my abundance of compassion and love for others. I deeply care for people and their problems, regardless of if I’ve experienced what they’re going through. I always seek to find the best in people and do my best to bring out those qualities. Another thing is that I’ve experienced homeschooling, Montessori schooling, education at Urbana High School, and education at Tuscarora High School, so I’ve had first-hand experience seeing the diverse issues and positive attributes around the county, and I believe that could give me good insight as a help mold policy.”