On November 29, Linganore held their first Student Voices session. Thirty seven students nominated by teachers participated as student ambassadors representing the school.

The event took place all day in the Learning Commons led by FCPS Supervisor of Accelerating Achievement and Equity Eric Louérs Phillips, Equity Teacher Specialist Toby Huesser, Social Studies Curriculum Specialist Colleen Bernard, and Teacher Specialist for Curriculum Instruction & Innovation James Hines.

Principal Nancy Doll and Assistant Principal Michelle Gilmore along with several staff members were present as well participating in group discussion and activities.

The main goal of the session was “to unite Linganore as one.”

Students and staff got know each other by answering icebreaker questions in small groups about themselves such as “What is the best gift you’ve received?” or “How would you describe yourself?” After ice breaker questions students and staff participated in whole group activities  such as “Captain’s Coming!” to bond. Throughout the day students discussed their beliefs about many racism, sexuality, and other important school issues switching between their small groups and the whole group.

Phillips said, “We[FCPS] believe in this group of students for the future.  As a school, they need to identify problems and work together to solve them without being divided.”

Ambassadors learned strategies to help improve themselves as individuals. They learned about the importance of listening as well as improving their perspective of others by not making assumptions, but educating themselves before having opinions.

Sophomore Nick Condrasky enjoyed the experience. He said, “The overall experience was pretty cool. I know a lot more about my peers, and I feel like I can help the school more, as my perspective has improved.”

The students aren’t done with this in just one day. They will repeat the process with three other FCPS schools in the future. Bernard said, “The goal is now to move from uniting each of these four schools to uniting FCPS. This is just one step to the bigger goal.”

The following students participated in the event:

Class of 2022: Faith Chapman, Connor Cunnane, Victoria Garofolo, Samuel Johnson, Joshua Parker, Maeve Smarick, Lindsay Toothaker, and Bennett Von Ancken

Class of 2021: Maya Apau, Jason Byrd, Sammie Hoefs, Nick Condrasky,  Rachel McCoy, Katie Morseman, Ashley Nash, Elizabeth Rajnik, and Rhiannon Seyfried

Class of 2020: Elizabeth Anderson, Kojo Benefo, Avé Boghossian-James, Rachel Eaves, Taylor Ferguson, Harry Heitzig, Jeremy Hilton, Zach Hudson, William Quansah, Alyson Sniffen, Emily Webb, and Braden Weinel

Class of 2019: Shay Arneson, Colleen Avila, Dominic Barbagallo, Morgan Mathews, Jane Quackenbush, Jake Santis, Shelby Tkacik, and Emily Wolfe