Better Buildings wins Rep. Jamie Raskin’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in Maryland’s Eighth District

When asked what inspired the creation of Better Buildings, the students said, “Our inspiration for Better Buildings sparked in our 8th-grade year. We were deeply involved in advocacy and served as President and Vice-President of the SGA at Silver Spring International MS (SSI). Our school faced constant building issues—ceiling panels falling, leaks, mold, and bathrooms missing sinks, soap, toilet paper, tampons, and stall locks. As students, we complained about these problems unaware of the work taking place behind the scenes. To us, fixes took forever, with almost no communication about what was being done.

These conditions made SSI feel unsafe and certainly not conducive to learning. When we were there, almost none of our peers enjoyed or felt proud to attend, and it wasn’t just us. Other schools in MCPS faced similar issues. We both remember watching a Board of Education meeting where students from Wootton HS advocated for renovations, and that’s when the bigger picture hit us. As part of our SGA, we started testifying and advocating directly to the board, staying in close contact with board member Lynne Harris to discuss issues.

Eventually, our testimonies reached Seth Adams, the Director of Facilities Management in MCPS at the time. During a Board meeting, in response to our testimonies, he stated, ‘The facility does not impact the day-to-day programs, the things that happen in the classroom.’ We were deeply upset because he didn’t understand what it meant to be learning 7 hours a day in a crumbling building.

Determined, we and other members of the SGA collected research data on the unsafe environment at our school and presented it to Mr. Adams and Mrs. Harris. That meeting was invaluable because it revealed a major problem: the lack of transparency around what was being done to fix these issues. We realized students didn’t know what work was being done, and there was no easy way to report problems or stay updated on repairs.

As we walked out of that meeting, we understood that transparency was the key issue. With Ms. Harris’ help, we developed the idea for an app that students could use to report building issues to school administration. This would allow administrators to address problems faster and provide updates to the school community.

Our experiences have taught us that the student voice matters. Through Better Buildings, we hope to empower students and administrators alike, fostering a more transparent and enjoyable school environment.”