Many of you will recall the experiences I have had with Richard Greene, the Reynolds Representative on the Buncombe County Board of Education, back in June and August when I was working to add a student adviser onto the school board. In June, he said he would do research over the summer about the idea, and he even told me, “I do not understand why the other board members are so resistant to the idea.”
In August, he was the first board member to speak after the public comment session. He denounced the proposal from left to right. What a surprising turn of events!
It was a relief for me that former chair Jim Edmonds and Roger Aiken were not running for re-election. And many people I know did not want Greene to be re-elected.
He was re-elected with a clear lead during the regular election on November 7. Source.
Sam Banks – 12,337 (35%)
Write In – 124
However, the other day, I was looking at the results from the Kids Voting program. Source.
Richard Greene – 1107
Write In – 168
While the results from the Kids Voting program do not actually affect the actual election, it shows that the teenagers and youth (the students who are affected every day by the school board’s decisions) do not want Richard Greene as their school board representative.
Some of my friends jokingly say that most of the write in votes were for me. While that is obviously not true, I think that my widely-supported project to add a student adviser onto the school board has given me a lot of recognition in the area and perhaps has influenced some of my fellow students.
Students are much smarter than most people give them credit for. Good post.
Monkeys are a lot smarter than most people give them credit for, too. However, they don’t deserve positions on school boards; students do.
Adam, you friggin rawk, because yet again you have opened my eyes. While I read your article with continuing disdain for your county’s board, it wasn’t until the very end that a sledge hammer came into my forehead. In just one line you pushed back on the despise I feel for “mock” anything by illustrating their validity by substainting the way that your school’s mock elections allowed you to determine success. By any measure that’s what you can call it Adam. Congrats.