2011-12 ASB!

  “It’s great! Rich is da homie,” Ruby Lee '12 says of the Associated Student Body (ASB) faculty advisor Rich Stearns. President Alexander Barsher ’12, Vice President Ruby Lee ’12, Secretary Emily Norris ’11, Co-Treasurer Elliot Frank ’11, and Co-Treasurer Lindsey Vandergrift ’12 have been hard at work as Seattle Academy’s ASB.

Last year, the school had its first ever tie for a position in ASB. Students were shocked to hear that Vandergrift and Frank tied for the position of Treasurer. Most students felt that both Frank and Vandergrift deserved the position equally when they showed leadership, humor, and public speaking skills when they gave their speeches last spring. Frank and Vandergrift (and probably the entire student body) were relieved to hear that the administration didn’t make the student body vote again to designate a sole person for the position. So far, everything seems to be working out well for the group to have two people in a position usually meant for one. If anything, it seems to be making the dynamic even better with one more person with whom to brainstorm, Lee expressed.

ASB held the first school dance on October 28 with the theme of “Hoedown Throw down.” ASB’s dedication was clear when they showed up to the Monday morning meeting on October 24, 2011 all wearing cowboy hats with Norris’ opening salutation, “Howdy y’all!” As Frank says, “I was surprised in how much room they gave us to be creative. The administration kind of just tells you to plan Winter Ball and we have to go from there.” And clearly they have done more than just work on Winter Ball; they have already been talking about plans for Prom and there are ideas in the works for other events this year.  When talking about plans for Winter Ball, Lee was pretty secretive in divulging anything because not everything is set in stone. She did mention, however, that there is a possibility that the dance won’t be on a boat this year and that the date is set for late January. Although there was a rumor going around that the dance was going to happen before Christmas, Lee said that because of accreditation some ideas the team had weren’t able to be executed. Lee also mentioned that they were going to try to make it even better than next year. We can only wait and see what ASB has planned. No doubt, if the group can execute Winter Ball as well as they did for the Hoedown- we’re in for a great and memorable Winter Ball.

When asked if they thought the job was harder in reality than they thought it would be, most said that it wasn’t harder than they thought, and that they were actually given more room for creativity and freedom to really work on their ideas. Although there have been a few issues, all have been resolved. The issues have ranged from ideas being outside the school boundaries to ideas being a little too outlandish. There was an idea to have a homecoming Dodge ball game against another school with a dance afterwards. But due to not being able to hold other schools’ students accountable, the administration was not able to approve the idea.  Despite their minor setbacks the group has really been able to thrive and work well together. Even before school started, the group was brainstorming ideas for Winter Ball, Prom, and the first casual dance, proving their leadership skills from before Day 1. Their approachability, unity, and mixture of interests in the school’s community is invigorating. ASB has all the essential elements for a great and cohesive group, from Lee’s warm smile and wave in the halls, to Frank’s humor and fearlessness in Francoise’s class and Norris’ dedication to her soccer team. Barsher’s goofy grin and infamous laugh, and Vandergrift’s constant calm and kindness, this group of Seniors and Juniors really care about their community’s well-being and are doing an excellent job representing the student body.