A Montgomery County student hasn’t been appointed to serve as the student member of the Maryland State Board of Education in 17 years, but a Thomas Wootton High School student might break that streak this year.

Ben Feshbach, a North Potomac resident and sophomore at Wootton High, has been nominated as one of two finalists for the position by the Maryland Association of Student Councils, said Lance Ledebur, executive director of the association.

Feshbach is up against Christian Hodges, a junior at Arundel High School in Anne Arundel County, Ledebur said.

Governor Martin O’Malley will appoint either Feshbach or Hodges by July 1.

There are 12 members on the state’s board of education, one of which is a student.

Feshbach would be an excellent member of the board, said Karen Crawford, a student affairs coordinator in Montgomery County Public Schools.

Crawford knows Feshbach from his work as the lobbying director for the countywide student government group, the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association.

“He is a fabulous student,” she said. “Very knowledgeable.”

Feshbach said he wants to be the state’s student member and be part of the decision-making process that he cares so much about.

“I’m interested in the bridge between politics and education at the local level,” Feshbach said.

When asked why Feshbach wasn’t interested in applying to be student member for the Montgomery County Board of Education, he said that certain aspects of the policies that the state board looks at are more interesting to him, such as legal appeals.

Feshbach has an impressive résumé for a student, Crawford said.

Not only is he a leader for the countywide student government, he also is chief of staff for Montgomery County’s student school board member, John Mannes; a member of the Montgomery County Young Democrats; and legislative committee co-chair of the Maryland Youth Advisory Council.

He is active at his temple and was a campaign intern for the Obama for America campaign.

Since the state began appointing student school board members around 1985, there have been four student members from Montgomery County, Ledebur said.

jbondeson@gazette.net