As your SMOB, my initiatives to bring desirable change to students will range from major goals (like being stricter on drug use in schools) to other changes that may seem minor by comparison. A few of these smaller policies include making school-sponsored athletic teams count for the MCPS-required physical education credit and restoring the health education credit to a single semester, common sense changes that have still not been implemented.

Simply put, the physical education credit exists to ensure MCPS students have a balanced educational experience. In much the same way as the health, fine arts, and technology education credits, students that are not necessarily interested in certain fields are still required to take certain courses. The difference between the aforementioned credits and the P.E. credit, however, is that some students are actively participating in sports on a school-sponsored level. It should be only sensible that athletes who spend at least a year on any official school sports team should have their P.E. credit accounted for.

As for the health credit, the two health semester classes offered by MCPS are repetitive and not even necessarily effective. Time and time again I've heard students complaining about how health class is too boring, too simple, and that, frankly, nobody pays too much attention. This is a problem for a class that's supposed to teach students all about health. Either the curriculum needs to be updated to fit a modern context, or more simply, we should eliminate the second required semester altogether.

As SMOB, I will continue to look for ways to improve students' educational experience, and that includes giving students more options to take classes and fulfill credits. Along with the previously described very beneficial changes, I will also advocate for ensuring summer school course offerings include classes that fulfill all graduation requirements, including the P.E. credit, so students who want more freedom to choose the classes they want during the school year still have the opportunity to get their credits done.