Bustling through the quad, members of ASB set up for Friday Fest, their first event of the year. While their yellow shirts remain the same, this year’s class is full of new faces and driven by a new mission.
The ASB Class, under President Jace Porter and faculty advisor Mercedes Foster, reworked their mission statement this year to align with a new vision for the class.
According to Senior Class Vice President Emma Fumagalli, the new statement reads, “The PHS ASB Leadership Council acts as a voice for the student body and a bridge between communities in order to create and sustain an enjoyable, enriching high school experience for all members of the Associated Student Body.”
Freshman Representative Jonas Kra-Caskey said that ASB is trying to be more inclusive, attempting to incorporate more students’ ideas to improve events.
“It’s all really positive,” Kra-Caskey said. “Everybody’s always talking about what we can do to help improve the school and take responsibility in our community.”
Fumagalli said that
there are ten new additions to this year’s ASB class and eight returning members, making the majority of this year’s ASB class new.
Foster said that the 18-person group is dynamic, with a variety of perspectives and interests, while still remaining unified.
“Everything’s open for discussion,” Fumagalli said. “In class, people can voice their opinions and explore their own ideas, but once we decide something, everyone supports it.”
Fumagalli also said that there is a lot of diversity amongst the ASB members this year.
“There are some people in the class that you wouldn’t expect to be in ASB, myself included, and it’s a good thing,” Fumagalli said. “With all these new voices from different grades, we are working to change [events] to make everyone feel more represented.”
Foster said ASB hopes to include more groups on campus in ASB events this year.
“I want students who are really passionate about their clubs to come up with ways to participate in school wide events [representing their clubs],” Foster said. “I want robots in our rally.”
Foster said that with an increase in representation in ASB events, students will feel a greater sense of school spirit.
“I just want people to enjoy the idea that school spirit is about community and not about blind allegiance,” Foster said.
Foster also said that the focus of the class has shifted this year to really focus on the needs of the student body.
“I want ASB students to be agents of positive change on campus,” Foster said. “I lead ASB in leading their peers, and I feel like we’re really on the same page this year.’
