MCJC Update #2

MCJC, Montgomery County Junior Council, is a countywide Student Government Association (SGA), run by students from all over Montgomery County. Their mission is to raise student advocacy and hear student voices from all the middle school students of our county.

At the previous MCJC executive board meetings, topics of discussion have included Robert’s Rule of Order (parliamentary procedure/how MCJC runs) and the Tutoring Program, which has been recently disbanded. MCJC has multiple departments, which are currently planning middle school visits, working on the MCJC website, and planning fundraisers to benefit MCJC and the various programs that are run by the organization.

The MCJC has hosted two general assemblies. The first was an introduction of what MCJC stands for and what they do. They invited all middle schools to join and elect their MCJC liaison to come to their meetings along with their school's SGA president. In the last General Assembly, they have had guest speakers from MCR, SMOB, MSP, NAMI, and MASC.

MCR - Montgomery County Regionals of Maryland Associations of Student Councils

SMOB - Student Member of the Board​​

MSP - Minority Scholars Program

NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness​​

MASC - Maryland Association of Student Councils

MCJC Officers:

President: Hana O'Looney

Vice President: Ben Nachod

Treasurer: Mogami Kariya

Secretary: David Avila Berlanga

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Interviews:

Q. What is MCJC?

(David-Secretary) “MCJC is the Montgomery County Junior Councils, where we help other middle schools, weather if it’s with the school or students.”

(Ben-VP) "MCJC is a student-run county-wide association that works to accurately represent and advocate for the interests of middle school students from all across Montgomery County.”

(Hana-President) "MCJC stands for the Montgomery County Junior Councils and is the middle school county-wide student government organization for MCPS. We represent all 40 Middle School SGAs from across the county.”

Q. What does MCJC do?

(David-Secretary) "We help other student who need help or are struggling with their education.”

(Ben-VP) "MCJC writes legislation and advocates for students across the county. We hold executive board meetings monthly where staff from each department meet and discuss the recent progress they've made or issues relevant to them. Executive board meetings are open for anyone to attend. MCJC also holds General Assemblies monthly for middle from any school in the county to come to. At these GAs, MCJC staff host speakers and run activities to educate and assist the student leaders who attend them.”

(Hana-President ) “MCJC works to represent the idea and beliefs of every middle school student in MCPS. We work with the Student Government Associations (SGAs) from each school to works towards creating a better school environment. We have two meetings every month, one Executive Board meeting where we discuss our plans and goals for events coming up (open to everyone) and General Assemblies which are larger meetings where delegates from every SGA meet to discuss what they have been working on.”

Q. What is MCJC’s main goal right now?

(David-Secretary) “To have more students be involved in MCJC.”

(Ben-VP) “MCJC's main goal as of now is to work with our current SMOB Matt Post to obtain cell phones during lunch for all middle schools in Montgomery County.”

(Hana-President ) “MCJC’s main goal right now is to increase student leadership involvement. This means getting more schools, more SGAs, and more student leaders involved in not only their local school student government, but also on the county and state level. We’ve actually been making progress non this, as our MCJC Executive Board is the largest it’s ever been, and we are seeing schools represented in our general assemblies that haven’t been in the past.”

Q. What do you think about MoCo Connect?

(David-Sec) "I like how MoCo Connect is helping students to be more involved in MCJC.”

(Ben-VP) "I think MoCo Connect is a very professional and well-run organization. The member of the staff who contacted me was very passionate about what he's doing and patient in regards to my schedule (which can get busy at times).”

(Hana-President ) “I think MoCo Connect has a great mission and motive, and I can’t wait to watch it expand and become more involved.”

Q. What is your favorite thing about MCJC?

(David-Sec) "We get to bring people from different schools together and we get to make friendships with others from different schools.”

(Hana-President ) "My favorite thing about MCJC is seeing students come together over student leadership and what they are passionate about. Students from completely different backgrounds uniting over the idea of wanting to make our community a better place, and standing up for what they believe in. As middle schoolers, we don’t have much influence by ourslewves, but when we come together, we can accomplish the unimaginable, and I believe I’ve been able to witness that firsthand.”

Q. Any other comments?

(Ben-VP) "MCJC has worked with several organizations including the National Association of Mental Health to spread awareness about common issues around our county. Our Community Partnerships Department recently organized a speaker appearance at our November GA where a twenty-minute slideshow about Mental Health Awareness was given. This year I have worked with several departments across MCJC to help them set their goals for the year. It's essential for everybody in MCJC to set goals for themselves in order to have a productive year. I have also been working to get the MCJC website (mcjcsga.com) up and running. At the past few executive board meetings, departments have written paragraphs about themselves and taken department photos to be up on their website page. I have worked out the logistics of obtaining the domain (mcjcsga.com) which is owned by a previous MCJC Vice President and the website should be up within the next month.”

(Hana-President) "If you are a middle schooler in MCPS, do not hesitate to get involved with your school Student Government Associations! Every student has changed that they’d like to be made within their school environments, and it;s important that everyone’s voice is represented. I am also always available for questions/concerns, my email is holooneygoto@gmail.com.”

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