20-year-old candidate battling cancer wants to fight for Northshore students
Aug 2, 2021, 5:09 AM | Updated: 11:18 am

(Northshore School District)
(Northshore School District)
At the age of 19, was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and was given six months to live. Now he’s running for a seat on the Northshore School Board.
鈥淲hile this scared me, I did not give up,鈥 Albrecht said. 鈥淚 went through chemotherapy treatment and surgery, and eventually had my life expectancy extended.鈥
He said his perspective on life changed.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to wait until I鈥檓 in my 50s or 60s to make a difference in my community,鈥 Albrecht said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how much time I have left on this earth, but I want to make sure I spend every second doing something that matters.鈥
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Albrecht is running for a seat on the school board for Northshore School District 1. It wasn鈥檛 too long ago that he was a student at one of the schools 鈥 Northcreek High School.
He said seeing the pain and suffering in the prompted him to run for the children of the district.
Albrecht said he polled hundreds of high school kids in the district and 78% of them reported having high anxiety or mental health issues, like depression, as a result of attending school online.
He wants to make sure all students have the benefit of a full in-person curriculum.
鈥淢y school district was actually the first in the nation to shut down,鈥 Albrecht said. 鈥淚 think they deserve a lot of credit for that. But they have been one of the slowest in the state to be reopened.鈥
He said he wants to make sure students have resources they need to help face those mental challenges, 鈥渂ecause school is not just a place for academics.鈥
As for Critical Race Theory, Albrecht said he鈥檚 had teachers in the district tell him they鈥檇 leave if the district adopts it as part of the curriculum. He said he studied CRT while attending the University of Washington.
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鈥淲hat it teaches you is that every American institution has racism at its core. And because of that, every disparity is because of racist policies. Well, there are many factors that influence disparities, not just racism. We need to realize that. When we have racial curriculums in our schools, we want to make sure that it is evidence based and age appropriate.鈥
Albrecht said there鈥檚 skepticism around his age and his health, but he assures voters he鈥檚 as healthy as ever.
鈥淢y life expectancy has been extended by years,鈥 he said. 鈥淎s far as my age, I have plenty of experience 鈥 14 years in the district. Don鈥檛 we want people on the school board who understand the ins and outs of being a student in the district? I鈥檝e been affected by the policies passed by the current school board.鈥
Albrecht is running to unseat incumbent Jacqueline McGourty. His challengers are Elizabeth Crowley and Brian Travis.
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