On May 27th, 2015 the Orcas High School’s new flock of leaders took office as Associate Student Body representatives. Juniors Halle Thompson, Jo Gudgell, Lilly Miller, and Wylie Kau along with Sophomore Luke Bronn were elected as the ASB executive officers for the 2015-16 school year. Following a nerve-wracking election of nine highly qualified students, the results were announced and the team assembled, getting straight to work. ASB officers’ main concern is to make the school the best they can make it and help foster a safe and supportive learning environment. All of the new members are ready to fulfill their duties and carry the torch as the old members graduate. Gudgell is ecstatic that she is now a part of the team, “All of the candidates who ran would have done a great job and would have been amazing to work with, so it’s a little bitter-sweet, but we have a great group for the council. Growing up in this school, I’ve always looked at the ASB officers with such admiration, so it’s very exciting to be one.”
The entire council is over-the-moon with excitement for the coming year. Now that the election, shock, and suspense are over the team is ready to start working hard. Miller is enthusiastic about her term on the council, “I know I will make the school proud!” she says.
As of May 17th, 2015, no roles have been assigned and the members are unsure if they will even do so. Gudgell spoke to this: “No specific roles have been assigned yet. We may assign roles, or we may all do a bit of everything.” It seems as though the group is more keen on remaining at an equal level of authority and working as a unit rather than a hierarchy, as Kau said: “I really hope to work as collective group, with no actual hierarchy so we can all present our ideas on equal ground. We all have our own strong voices and I hope instead of clashing, they can help elevate the others.”
On the couch! / Contributed Photo
All five have similar goals for next year, from supporting the sports teams to bolstering school spirit and participation to just having a blast, they want to make the school a better, more fun, environment. Bronn explains that he “would like to focus on increasing participation in school wide activities, raise the level of school spirit, and create more activities to participate in,” and Miller hopes to “leave the school with a great year and people who have had as much fun as they possibly can!” The team whole heartedly agrees that they want to make the school a better place for everyone, where all opinions matter and everyone has a say. Kau spoke to this: “I would like to focus in particular on the function of school sports. . . Also, I would like to create a new system of student activity as sort of a request hearing—something like when a student wants something to happen in the school, they come to a meeting of the council and present their idea, so [that] the council can either help them, delegate to a different club where the idea is more up their alley, or even help find a teacher that could help accelerate the idea.” Already full of ideas, the council is itching to get started. Gudgell wants to strengthen what the school has and rejuvenate it before anything else is done in hopes of promoting a more stable environment: “[we need to] improve the basics and strengthen the building blocks before we go on to other items—but trust me, we’ll go on.”
The high school students have expressed that they are glad that they have such a strong council, and the council is glad that they have such an awesome student body to govern. Gudgell speaks for the other members when she says: “As an officer on the ASB executive council, my primary goal is to unite the school. I will work toward supporting camaraderie among all four classes, and the intermixing of various social groups. Mostly, I’m looking forward to efficiency, organization, success, fun, unity, and a truckload of Viking spirit in the 2015-2016 school year. GO BLUE”.