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WHCDC Hosts High School Democratic Clubs at Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

One of the highlights of the very successful Jefferson-Jackson Dinner was the presence of 18 high school students from three high schools: Mt. Hebron, Centennial and Glenelg. Participation was late in developing but added a special meaning for both the students who participated and the adults in attendance.

A special thanks goes to three individuals who helped get the ball rolling: Ann DeLacy, president of the Howard County Education Association and founding sponsor of the Mt. Hebron High School Democratic Club; Pat Gordon, Howard County School Board member and grandmother of Alexandra Gordon, president of the Centennial High School Democratic Club; and Jim Mundy, a faculty member at Glenelg High School and former Democratic candidate, who recommended a student representative from that school.

Attending students include:

Mt. Hebron High School: Sheila Sengupta, President; Yanran Chen, Sai Divakaruni, Graceb Freund, Brittani Love, Jeff Pfeifer, Rachael Richardson, Adam Russell, Stuart Russell, and John Tapp. Ms. Erin Dantzler, faculty sponsor.

Centennial High School: Alex Gordon, President; Ben Blake, Alison Gocke, Andy Gocke, Jeff Huang, and Lauren Simenauer.

Glenelg High School: Lauren McDaniel, student representative.

Mt. Hebron and Centennial High Schools are the only high schools in the county with Democratic Clubs.

The experience was so successful that the Central Committee has invited the Western Howard County Democratic Club to expand its efforts to encourage and assist other schools in its area to establish clubs in those schools under the banner of “Future Democrats of America”. In its first meeting on May 29, the WHCDC Executive Committee endorsed the concept for discussion and approval at the June meeting. Schools which service Western Howard County in full or in part include eight of the county’s 12 high schools: Glenelg and Marriotts Ridge High Schools (primary) and Mt. Hebron, Centennial, River Hill, Reservoir, Atholton and Hammond High Schools (partial). If accepted, the project would serve as a pilot project for county-wide adoption.

(Insert photo from J-J Diner) Attending students with Gov. Martin O’Malley, County Executive Ken Ulman, and Central Committee Chair Michael McPherson.