5-10-2022 4:34am

PROFILE: SAMANTHA WARFEL

MEET STUDENT LEADER SAMANTHA WARFEL

It is hard to think about student leadership in Baltimore County Public Schools without thinking of Samantha Warfel, a junior at Hereford High School. For the past six years, she has been a Baltimore County Student Councils leader: first as 2nd vice president for two years, then vice president for one year, and now president for three years.

Nora Murray, BCPS program specialist who oversees student leadership describes Sammie as a strong student leader and representative for BCPS. “She is committed and persevered creating opportunities for students to stay engaged and their voices valued even through the difficult pandemic,” Murray says. “Her dedication to providing resources to her peers is commendable.”

“I have found,” Sammie says, “that with BCSC while advocacy is important, community is even more important. In BCSC, there is a base of friendship. We all lean on one another and have really important conversations.”

“I have found that with BCSC while advocacy is important, community is even more important.”- Samantha

Sammie was in Grade 6 when she joined her school’s student council, and later that year, she and some of her schoolmates attended a systemwide BCSC general assembly meeting. “I was just amazed by everything they were doing,” Sammie says of the students leading the meeting. “One of the first activities I participated in was a privilege walk (an equity exercise). I had never done that kind of workshop before. I thought it was amazing and important, and I wanted to do more.”

At the end of the meeting, meeting leaders passed out officer applications for the following school year. “I took one, read it, and filled out the application that night to run for 2nd vice president,” Sammie says.

Samantha Warfel

Samantha at BCSC General Assembly elections, April 2019

Samantha talking to Student Member of the Board Omer Reshid and BCPS Superintendent Dr. Williams , Middle School Kindness Maters Summit, October 2019

A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE CAN BE THEMSELVES

As a learner who is always curious and questions everything, in middle school, she started to have a hard time. “I had to deal with some unfortunate situations and bullying,” she explains. “I was picked on because of my enthusiasm about school.”

She continues, “There is nothing I dislike more than negative connotations about being a nerd. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to learn. Knowledge is power. Knowing things is phenomenal! But I found myself at a crossroads moment. Would I let myself be embarrassed? Thankfully my parents and high school mentors I met in BCSC (like Angela Qian) let me know that it was okay to be myself.”

“There is nothing I dislike more than negative connotations about being a nerd. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to learn. Knowledge is power. Knowing things is phenomenal!” - Samantha

Looking back to her first years with BCSC, Sammie says, “When I first jumped in, before Covid, the conferences and events we held, our energy. . . .we were unstoppable! BCSC is the kind of place where you come, and you don’t have to worry. Everyone is friends. Our world needs more of that attitude.”

During the pandemic, BCSC held monthly lunch chats to try to boost student morale, and the organization discovered – because transportation and capacity limits were no longer considerations – they had more student participation in general assembly meetings than ever before.

BCSC Bedford Elementary Leadership Event, March 2019

Samantha, left, at BCSC Fall Leadership Camp, September 2018

Samantha, 4th from left, at BCSC General Assembly, December 2018

Samantha, right, at BCSC General Assembly, March 2019

Samantha, third from left, at swearing-in ceremony for Student Member of the Board Christian Thomas, left, spring 2021

BCSC Advocacy Day in Annapolis, February 2020

BCSC Advocacy Day, February 2020 (Samantha is in back row, third from right)

Samantha, left, at BCSC Bullroast, May 2017

COMMUNITY, KINDNESS, HUMILITY

The themes of community, kindness, and humility are woven through Sammie’s story.

“My grandmother is a big influence in my life,” she says. “She taught me to choose kindness over being right, and that acceptance is the greatest gift you can give others. I heard her say that and my mom say that all my life. Everyone has a part of them that wants to be accepted, welcomed, and loved.”

Sammie also credits nature for having a humbling effect on her. “My mom grew up on a farm in Monkton, and my grandparents live there,” she explains, “so I spent a lot of my childhood spend there. I was fortunate to be around nature. . . . Nature is humbling. I would go into the pond and come out with snails in my pockets, and I would be shocked and surprised. I would have mud in my shoes and all over me. That is such a fond memory. I used to ride horses until middle school, and I never rode a pony that was well mannered. That is humbling, too.”

Thinking about being in nature, Sammie remembers a particular incident that had a significant impact on her. “I have a lot of cousins, and we were outside playing,” she begins. “Even though I was the oldest, I always felt like I needed to prove myself. One day they were playing tag, and I decided to play with them and win. I gave it my all. I was barreling down a wooded hill as fast as I could, and I collided with a tree and got a piece of a stick in my eye. I had to wear an eye patch for a while. But now when I think about it, what I think about is that I don’t want anyone to ever feel that they have to run as fast as they can just to be accepted.”

“I don’t want anyone to ever feel that they have to run as fast as they can just to be accepted.” - Samantha

A very young Samantha

MOST REWARDING ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE: AP CAPSTONE

While Sammie regards student council as the best extracurricular activity she has participated in at BCPS, she says that the most the rewarding classes she has taken are the two classes in the Advanced Placement (AP)Capstone program: AP Seminar and AP Research.

For her yearlong AP Research program, Sammie studied “Health Literacy for Afghan Women and Girls: Leveraging Blockchain Technology.”

Sammie explains how she came up with the topic: “I was trying to learn about blockchain technology and how it powers Bitcoin and how it is a decentralized ledger that is more secure than other networks. And around the same time, the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan, leaving Afghan women and girls in a very vulnerable position. I had an ‘aha’ moment and connected the two topics: If women are being stripped of their rights, why can’t we use blockchain technology to get health information to them?”

Sammie’s project included confirming that Afghan women had access to personal technology and conducting a cross-sectional research study including interviewing health experts at the United Nations.

She hopes to get her paper published in a journal. The paper she wrote for her AP Seminar class is being published in the Journal of Student Research. Next school year, Sammie will return to AP Capstone as an intern and research advisor.

“I would love to do more research in college,” Sammie says, “especially related to humanitarian crises. I am really interested in research about international human rights law and diplomacy.”

ACTIVE AT HEREFORD HIGH AND BEYOND

Beyond this class, Sammie is active at Hereford High as an editor of the school yearbook, manager of an Allied Sports bocce team, and founder of a Girl Up chapter (with the leadership and guidance of advisor English language arts teacher Jennifer Houseknecht).

Asked for her impressions of Sammie, Houseknecht says, “Samantha Warfel takes action; she is passionate about women’s rights and gender equality, and she works tirelessly to improve the lives of women and girls. Sammie has spent countless hours working to make our club successful and I am certain she will put forth the same effort as a Teen Advisor. Sam has done a beautiful job of enlisting students to enroll in the club, organizing our monthly meetings, and planning our service projects. Most recently, Sam facilitated a school-wide charity drive to provide toiletries and personal hygiene items to The Women’s Housing Coalition of Baltimore City. This month, Sam is partnering with Hereford’s UNICEF Club to provide gender-equality educational resources to the entire school throughout March in honor of Women’s History Month. Sam is consistently seeking new opportunities to educate the public about gender-equality, to support the lives of women and girls, and to inspire others to work toward these same goals. As a Teen Advisor for Girl Up, I am confident that Sam will be a model leader with her unparalleled commitment to gender equality and unwavering devotion to public service.”

“Sam is consistently seeking new opportunities to educate the public about gender-equality, to support the lives of women and girls, and to inspire others to work toward these same goals.” - Jennifer Houseknecht, English language arts teacher

Outside of school, Sammie is participating in the World Trade Center Institute’s Youth Diplomat Fellowship. The group meets monthly to learn about diplomacy and international relations. For three years, she chaired the Maryland Association of Students Councils’ Women’s Leadership Forum. And last summer, she interned with the Women’s Housing Coalition in Baltimore City, and she wants to intern there again.

With her busy schedule, Sammie says she preserves her sanity through reading and movement. At the dance studio where she studies pointe ballet and tap, she helps teach PreK and elementary school students. “I love watching them grow,” she says. “Being an assistant teacher has brought me a lot of joy.”

In addition, she enjoys meditation, visualization, yoga, and poetry.

Next year will be Sammie’s last as a BCPS student and as a BCSC leader. She says she wants to expand student workshop opportunities and get more students trained.

“I think the recipe for success with leadership is showing genuine interest and caring and amplifying voices,” Sammie concludes. “I define leadership as providing a platform and handing over the microphone.”