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Rockville, MD – Piano, International Baccalaureate, NIH Internship…Now Alan Xie has something else to add to his To Do List: being the student voice on the Montgomery County Board of Education as the recently elected Student Member of the Board (SMOB) for the 2010-2011 school year.

The Richard Montgomery junior campaigned under his multi-layered political experience on the state, county, and school level and won 47,549 – over 73% - votes in a county-wide student election.

“Alan has a strong potential to build a strong SMOB” said Tim Hwang, the past student member.

While Xie’s recent success has been exciting, it was actually failure that pushed him towards the road of student government.

“I was running for SGA office nad due to a technical glitch, I was disqualified,” he said. Instead of being discouraged, Xie bounced back to serve on the Maryland Youth Advisory Council where he met local delegates and participated in legislative hearings. He also served on the county SGA.

“I realized that I had a voice. I wasn’t satisfied just sitting back. I wanted to be hands-on in the process,” he said.

It’s a hands-on experience Xie will be getting starteing next week with the August 27^th Board meeting. For the last couple of months, Xie has been shadowing Tim Hwang, learning the ropes, the rules, and the background so that he will be ready to participate when the school year starts.

During his term, Xie will be present for some important decisions. The school budget is on everyone’s mind as the shadow of last year’s brutal cuts loom over this year. Furthermore, every seat on the General Assembly and County Council is up for election – whoever is elected will undoubtedly have a large impact on the future of education in the county. And finally, Superintendent Dr. Jerry Weast’s contract is coming to an end and the Board must decide who to replace him.

But Xie is embracing the experience. “I get to talk to different interest groups, attend unofficial Board functions,” he said. “And I get my own parking spot at the Board of Education.”

Xie also plans to continue Hwang’s efforts to fight for the SMOB’s voting rights on issues like the budget. It’s a highly politicized and contested right, but one that Xie thinks is crucial to giving students a say in their education.

“In the end, students are the biggest stakeholders. [Representing them] is my job,” he said.