Whiz Kids: Two Students Named to Serve as School Board Reps

Patch Whiz Kids of the Week: Lindsay Vetter and Samantha Edgell

• Ages: 17
• School: Both juniors at Ocean City High School
• Accomplishment:  Student representatives on Ocean City Board of Education

Not a whole lot of people put the words "cool" and "Board of Education" together in the same sentence. But Lindsay Vetter and Samantha Edgell are not your average high school juniors.

Lindsay, of Ocean City, and Samantha, of Seaville, recently were named student representatives on the school board.

That means they have committed to attending two meetings a month at which they report student activities and other student news they think might be important to the board. They don't get to vote when the other board members do, but that's OK with them.

To win their one-year gigs, Samantha and Lindsay each had to write a letter of intent and collect 40 student signatures and 10 faculty signatures; luckily, they didn't have to beat out any opponents, as they were the only students who applied.

Samantha says the experience could help her in her plans for a political career.

"I basically just wanted to be a voice for the whole school," she said. "I think I'm very good at listening and helping people."

Samantha's dad, Paul, mom, Christine, and sister, Ashley, 14, are very proud of her. Samantha, who holds a black belt in karate and teaches the martial art to younger kids, hopes to attend a university in Washington, D.C.

Lindsay's mom is Rosemarie and her dad is John. Her sister, Lauren, is 15. She runs spring and winter track for OCHS and hopes to attend college in the south to study business. 

Now, back  to the "cool" comments. When asked  in separate phone interviews why they wanted to be on the school board and subject themselves to what can be some awfully boring meetings, both young ladies used the word.

"I wanted to see what goes on behind the scenes," said Lindsay, who also represented OCHS in Cape May County's Government Day. "Ever since I attended my first meeting, I thought it would be pretty cool."

Samantha commented on the first school board meeting the two attended earlier this month: "I thought it was really cool, and I was surprised at how fast it went. Everybody was really nice."

Good luck to Lindsay and Samantha, student representatives on the Ocean City Board of Education. Keep on being cool.