Campaign email: voteSamichieCCBOE.D1@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamichieCCBOECandidate/
Age: 47
Employment: I am currently employed but I would like to not add that information.
Education: I have a master’s degree in Human Resources and Management Development from Bowie State University.
Why are you running for the school board?
I am the mother of four children who have gone through Charles County Public Schools. I felt like I could add some more innovative practices to how we are educating students in the county. Having been an HR director for a number of years I think I understand what it takes for students to be prepared for college and for a career. I think some of those things are missing in the curriculum that is administered today, and also just the way in which students are being prepared. That has led me to want to run and see if I can help add a bit of industry innovation in the way in which we consider how to educate our students.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
I am a parent who has had children go through the school system. I have experience in education, human resources and public sector policy, as well as having a lot of experience with budgets, contracting and other things that a good school board member needs. I also bring some practical real world experience and I am an innovative thinker. I would research not only what’s happening in our county and our state, but also what’s happening in international education and education across our country. I would look at other research out there to see how we can best use the most cutting edge and innovative practices in education. I also have a lot of experience with foster care children.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
I don’t have an answer for that question.
What is the most important issue facing your school board, and what would you do about it if elected?
There’s a new structure to the school board. They’re moving from a countywide representation to a per district representation. There are two members sitting that will return, the at-large member and I think district one. The structure will be different and they have to then learn to work together to effectively implement the Blueprint for Education. I think the Maryland Blueprint for Education lends itself to have a very robust structure that will allow for a reinvigorated approach to education in the county. There will be new resources from the state, but over time, those resources will wane and the county will then have to supplement those resources to keep some continuity.
How concerned are you about school safety, and what if anything should be done to improve it?
I believe the school board has to work in tandem with the superintendent as well as other county safety groups to make sure that the students are safe. I also think that there’s a level of mental health awareness and support that can be put in place to bolster school safety. We should teach the students to understand when there’s challenges in the school, give them a level of emotional intelligence to learn to defuse situations and know when to go speak with someone in the school that can help them advise administration of problems. If we can use the students as a resource, as well as teaching them how to look out for things in the school system, that will really be able to help school safety.
Do you have any concerns about the way history is taught in your district’s schools, and if so, what are they?
I do not have any concerns with the way history is being taught today. I would not title them as concerns, but I do think there may be some gaps in the way history is being taught. I think every year there’s an opportunity to add more content to the curriculum in all areas, not just history, that will better suit the students’ needs, and that is on par with current events in order to prepare students to be good citizens and good stewards of history and things in the future.
Do you think there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries, and if so, what kind of books should be removed?
I think books that are in the library that are age-appropriate and meet the content requirements of school should remain. We should trust the schools to make a good decision about what’s age-appropriate, but to remove books because adults have ideologies that they’re trying to present or remove from children, I think is a challenge. I don’t think it’s about wholesale removing books. I think there’s a conversation that needs to be had with the community, as well as with the school administration. There needs to be a criteria established, and that criteria should largely be around whether or not the content is age-appropriate. If it is age-appropriate, it should remain in school libraries.
