Amidst cheers of encouragement echoing the Binks Gym, students in matching tank tops and shorts gently shift their weight from side to side in a row. A team of staff members mirrors them across the gym and clusters into a tight huddle, exchanging mumbles of strategy and inspiration before returning to their original positions like sprinters mounted on starting blocks. Then a whistle shrieks and both sides surge ahead towards a midline, upon which lies a file of brightly colored dodgeballs.
ASB has planned several events, including the dodgeball tournament, the winter rally, Winter Ball, Valentine’s Day Heart-O-Grams delivered by the Troubadours and Match-O-Matic matchmaking surveys.
The first of these events was the dodgeball tournament, which kicked off at lunch on Jan. 20 and continued until Jan. 29 during the winter rally. Students and faculty participated in the tournament on teams of six to 10 people.
“There’s a lot of excitement around dodgeball,” said ASB Community Outreach representative junior Alisha Lewis. “I think the student body really enjoys it, which is great.”
The next event was the winter rally, which took place on Jan. 29. One change made to the rally this year was removing the usual Winter Ball ask, during which a junior or senior traditionally asked another student to be his or her date to the dance. This year, with the rally scheduled for the day before Winter Ball, ASB decided that the two events were too close together for the usual proposal, said ASB student body vice-president Jenny Hosler.
ASB also hoped to diversify the usual student participation it receives for rallies, said junior class vice president Natalie Stollman.
“We’re really trying to get people who want to participate but who also maybe haven’t had a chance in years past,” Stollman said. “We’re trying to get a wide variety of participants from different groups so that everybody can eventually have a chance if it’s what they want to do.”
Stollman said that anyone interested in being in a rally should contact an ASB member.
The following evening, on Jan. 30, students headed to Sequoyah Country Club to attend the annual PHS-MHS Winter Ball. As usual, the event was open to all juniors and seniors and to underclassmen who were asked to go as dates. ASB sold tickets exclusively online.
Lastly, in February, ASB has festivities planned for the romantics of the student body. Match-O-Matic surveys and Heart-O-Grams, Valentine cards delivered to students by the Troubadours, will both be sold on campus nearing Valentine’s Day.
In between these types of events, Hosler said that ASB has been doing small things around campus like putting new soap in bathrooms and flowers in teachers’ classrooms to let the student body know that ASB is still thinking about them.
“I really love the soap,” junior Yuka Matsuno said. “Everyone I’ve talked to really likes it too.”
ASB is always looking to improve these events by listening to students’ opinions, Lewis said.
“We’re really open to feedback whether it be positive or negative,” Stollman said. “Anybody can contact any ASB member with anything they have to say and it’ll get passed on to the rest of the class.”
