MCR Executive Board Meeting Recap

On Thursday, January 7, the Montgomery County Regional SGA (MCR) held its monthly meeting for Executive Board members over Zoom. The meeting began with a call to order, approval of the agenda, and approval of the minutes. New business was then introduced.

Montgomery County Junior Council (MCJC) Vice President Shayaan Wadkar and Student Member of the Board Nick Asante gave MCR an overview of what MCJC and the Board of Education, respectively, had accomplished since the last Executive Board meeting. The Chiefs of Staff implemented a new mental health check-in in the form of a Google Form with questions about MCR-related workload and comfortability of members with their directors and Chiefs of Staff.

Another new activity introduced during January 7’s meeting was a “conversation regarding recent events,” inspired by the desire of many students within MCPS to discuss the Capitol break-in that occurred on January 6, shortly before both houses of Congress were scheduled to certify the electoral votes from November 3’s presidential election. All event attendees were encouraged to reflect on the past day’s events with the larger group, and many found the opportunity beneficial. “I felt that it was a conversation that was necessary and important to have, so often we shy away from these conversations because they’re uncomfortable or quite frankly scary and it’s important that we as young leaders tackle these hard conversations head-on,” said Finance Coordinator Alan Gutierrez.

The conversation also gave MCR members an opportunity to share the ways in which their own experiences related to January 6’s events. “My initial reaction was disappointment and – quite frankly – disbelief. My parents are from a country that suffers from a lot of political corruption and instability and to see the U.S. come so close to that was so upsetting. I am still honestly disappointed with a lot of institutions and am upset with the mediocre response from many people in power. I would love to see major change happen soon,” said Gutierrez. Due to the many connections of MCR members to the break-in and high demand to continue the discussion, department breakout rooms were encouraged to further discuss the issue.

Following breakouts, a representative from each room shared their department’s successes during the past semester, as well as possible areas for improvement. Next up came the semester and monthly awards, with a slew of winners from throughout the organization: Michelle Wong (Most Hardworking Director), Ashley Morales and Sean Davis (Best Duo), Paris Ye (Most Creative), Jazzlyn Carela (Best Biker), Sam Lev (Busiest Bee), Leg Affairs (Most Inspired Department), Lucia Gutierrez (Best Dressed), and Srihitha Akula and Advika Agrawal (MCR Members of the Month).

The meeting then ended with a quick closing and a reminder about the next Executive Board meeting on February 4.

Written by Queen Balina

Published by PR Department