How this headline may connect to industries in Maryland. Technical scores are below — click any ? for what a metric means.
Attendees at the St.Mary's County school board meetings will soon see a new face at the end of the desk.Isabella Derisavi, a junior at Leonardtown High School, was elected as the new student member of the board earlier this year.She will succeed Vanessa Li, who is graduating from Leonardtown High School later this month.Derisavi was one of two students who ran for the position and was voted in by the St.Mary’s Association of Student Councils, Kevin Wright, supervisor of instruction for secondary social studies, said.“I’ve been in the SMCPS [St.Mary’s County Public Schools] system since I was in kindergarten,” Derisavi said.“I’ve seen a wide variety of schools with so many different students of different backgrounds and, really for me, I’ve just seen the different unique challenges and opportunities that each school has.” The student member of the board’s main responsibility is representing the approximately 17,000 students in the school system and making their voices heard at each meeting.They visit all the elementary schools in the county to connect with the fifth graders.“I’m really excited to just meet with all of them, especially the fifth graders,” Derisavi said.“I’m so excited to hear their perspectives.” Along with her new role, Derisavi is the treasurer of the St.Mary’s Association of Student Councils and the public coordinator for the St.Mary’s Association of Model United Nations.She is the treasurer for both the Principal’s Student Advisory Council and the Class of 2027 as well as the secretary for Leonardtown High School’s student government association.Derisavi joined the student government association at Li’s suggestion.“She’s been my role model since like day one,” Derisavi said.“As I’ve moved up and she’s moved up, she’s continuing to give me that support whenever I need it.” At the state level, Derisavi is a member of the Maryland Association of Student Councils Environmental Affairs Committee.“There’s no opportunity like it to just connect with so many other like-minded students across Maryland and just seeing their varying perspectives on environmental topics,” Derisavi said.“That definitely translates to what experience I’m going to be having for SMOB [student member of the board] because I’m going to have to deal with a whole lot of different perspectives from all the different schools and all the different students.” This year was a busy one for the board of education, between redistricting decisions and an increase of $8.5 million in their budget request.“It was really interesting and really eye-opening to see all the different perspectives from the community members and what their takes were,” Li said.Li is set to attend the University of Maryland in the fall.She plans to study government and politics.“The mentorship from the board members is extremely valuable.They’ve taught me so many life lessons, and just being in that kind of setting really sets you up for what kind of the real world looks like,” Li said.Li’s last board of education meeting will be Wednesday, May 20, while Derisavi will assume the position July 1.