During the fourth quarter—home to short sleeves, sunny skies, and the tantalizing taste of summer—in a time when much of the school slows down, Student Activities gears up for one of the most highly anticipated student events of the year: ASB elections. The department meticulously plans the election process, moving from information sessions to interviews, to finally seating seven representatives to lead the school.
The Student Activities team began the process in mid-February by advertising ASB informational sessions to the sophomore and junior classes. Directly after Monarch Madness, however, is when the election process truly begins. Director of Student Activities Mr. Greg Walker has been involved with Mitty’s ASB for the past seventeen years. Much of his work involves directly guiding candidates through this process, including scheduling interviews, distributing poster materials, providing the student body with voting ballots, and eventually, determining the candidates’ overall scores to seat the next ASB group.
These procedures, though remaining fairly constant over time, have been subject to improvements in the past few years as well. Ms. Julia Rodriguez, the Assistant Director of Student Activities, works to manage the election process and the ASB program. Over the past five years, she has been involved in ASB and has seen a few significant changes to the election process.
The media coordinator position, in particular, has become the only position on ASB for which a candidate runs independently. Based not only on leadership qualities but also on digital media skills, the ASB media coordinator is responsible for leading the multimedia projects for Student Government, including the creation of the introductions for the morning announcements.
Otherwise, in recent years, the system by which the candidates are judged has stayed relatively consistent. Student votes account for half of the scoring, while the teacher recommendations, behavior record, application content, and interviews account for the other half. According to Ms. Rodriguez, the students’ “voices matter, and that’s why we want the student vote to weigh a good portion … but we also need to make sure that the candidates are in good standing and well qualified.”
In the submitted application and interviews, the faculty is looking for initiative and a dedication to leadership among the candidates. To Mr. Walker, “it’s about being creative enough to let your ideas become tangible, real things that the rest of the school can experience. … It’s a labor of love.” Whether it be through hanging up stadium decorations or painting for Spirit Week or Monarch Madness, such voluntary contributions to the school community demonstrate leadership qualities and a commitment to represent the school with heart. In addition to dedication, Student Activities also looks for candidates with maturity, who can handle conflicts between students and plan for the dances, rallies, and other major events throughout the school year.
Even though ASB members deal with heavy responsibilities, Mr. Walker explains that “it’s not so much about what they’re doing now, but more about training students to be leaders and active in participation once they leave.” Preparation to lead confidently and effectively after graduation is one of the main benefits of participating in ASB.
Although running for ASB may be daunting initially, Ms. Rodriguez has a message for these aspiring candidates: “You bet on yourself. You have the confidence within your own skillset to say, ‘you know what? I think I can lead,’ and I think that’s pretty freaking cool.”
(The ASB elections were held on Thursday, April 10, and seven students were selected. Rising juniors Ethan Seto, Alex Vanichakorntanes, and Natalie Kim and rising seniors Braden Clements and Ellie Woo won positions as ASB officers, while rising seniors Ritish Antony Joseph-Anand and Xavier Lun-Armstead became media coordinators. Congratulations to those who won, and all those running for positions showed remarkable courage.)