ROCK HALL — After being the first student to serve two years on the Kent County Board of Education, Alden Swanson officially passed the torch to incoming member Eamon Lindsay last week.
Swanson served as the student member of the board, or SMOB, during her junior year at Kent County High School and was re-elected by her peers for her senior year.
She is the KCHS Class of 2026 valedictorian and plans to attend Williams College in Massachusetts.
“I’ve learned so much about myself from being on this board: about working together and problem solving, asking good questions and how hard it really is to run a school system,” Swanson said at her final board meeting on June 8.
Superintendent of Kent County Public Schools Mary McComas presented Swanson with a certificate, recognizing her service to the board and commending her on her integrity and her work representing students.
President Trish McGee said Swanson has been a very strong member of the board.
McGee said she watched Swanson’s mother, Kent County High School alumna Robbi Behr, grow up.
“And now I’ve watched you grow up,” McGee told Swanson.
Swanson was congratulated by the other board members for her service. Board member John Queen frequently referred to her throughout the comments as the “SMOB GOAT” — greatest of all time.
In introducing Lindsay to the board as its newest member, KCHS Principal Kris Hemstetter described him as “an outstanding student leader who has demonstrated a strong commitment to service, civic engagement and student advocacy.”
“I am so incredibly honored and privileged to be accepting this nomination,” Lindsay told the board.
McGee said she believes Lindsay will be a great board member.
McGee spoke about how Swanson followed a “rock star” of a student board member, Madison Messick, and carved her own path.
“You’re going to create your own identity,” McGee told Lindsay. “And in a year, we’re going to be saying these exact same things about you.”
Likewise, Swanson had words of encouragement for Lindsay.
“I’m really excited for you,” Swanson told him at the meeting. “I think this is really a perfect position for you. I know you have such a big passion for student advocacy.”
Kent County Board of Education President Trish McGee is the owner and publisher of The Evening Enterprise. She dd not contribute to this report.
