12 Nov Former Student Rep. is fighting for the future

Doha Ibrahim served as a student representative to Philadelphia Board of Education last school year.

When the quarantine began in March, students were displaced from their normal routines, including Doha Ibrahim, then a Philadelphia Student Representative. In this role, she spoke on behalf of students in the Philadelphia School District, relaying their concerns and opinions to the Philadelphia Board of Education.

“When we are on the board —and I am not sugarcoating it— I felt like I was an adult at the table, respected with my own opinion,” she said. “When I needed to meet with them, they gave me their full attention.”

Doha joined the Student Board to make a difference. During the early weeks of the pandemic, she did just that. Doha and another Student Rep wrote an opinion piece for the Philadelphia Inquirer informing members of the community of the damaging impact Covid-19 could have on student learning. “In honor of the Class of 2020, here is what we ask our Philadelphia community to do to safeguard the education of all future classes: Write to the governor and your state legislators today and tell them that education funding is too important to cut,” Doha and her fellow student representative wrote.

As a senior at Lincoln High School, Doha experienced the strain of transitioning from brick-and-mortar school to online school and adapted to the new setting. “I was able to do a lot of advocacy work in my time at home,” she said. “I was able to do a lot of at-home projects, finish my courses strongly, finish up my college paperwork.”

Doha was thankful for more time at home. “For me, I felt like it was easier to stay at home so that I could help my family out and do things around the house that needed to be done.” 

Doha had not only worked hard on her schoolwork during the quarantine but also continued to advocate for students.

“We did a lot of town halls in partnership with the Student Leadership & Engagement Office at the district,” she said in July. “I am also doing a lot of work right now with the Mayor on his steering committee and seeing what we can do right now with the current situation of COVID-19, protests, and police reform work. This was all after my student rep position.”

Toward the end of the interview, Doha reflected on her time on the board, which she left in June after graduating. “My favorite part of the job was bringing back students’ voices to the board and seeing the adults react in such a positive way and following up with people and having them follow up with us to make sure that we are doing everything that we talk about. There is so much I love about this job.”

At the moment, Doha studies political science at Temple University. With this degree, she hopes to work with the federal government on relations with the middle east or in the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office. “I want to be as involved as possible in my city.”