With nearly two months left before the school year ends, it was time for the current 2014-2015 ASB officers to step down from their positions and make room for next year’s officers. After weeks of preparation, it all came together on April 21 as candidates gave their speeches to the school.
As a result, students voted junior Kenton Robillard as ASB president-elect, junior Nick Fraser as ASB vice president-elect, sophomore Sam Ebner as ASB treasurer-elect and junior Kelty Pierce as ASB secretary-elect for the 2015-2016 school year.
Running a campaign to be elected as a leader of the school requires dedication to the school. Pierce talks about the amount of preparation she has put into her campaign.
“I had to write my speech, create the posters and everything. I wanted to make sure that I was able to talk with students who normally would not vote or who did not necessarily know who I was,” Pierce said. “I took time passing out gum and cupcakes and getting my name out there. During the week of campaigning it mostly consisted of talking to people and getting prepared for speeches.”
For the candidates, getting their name out to students and getting themselves known was key when it came to gaining votes. Fraser says it was important to talk with students.
“A lot of preparation went into [the campaign] not just during campaign week but overall. Not all the preparation went necessarily into the speech and the posters. It went into networking by letting kids know who I am and getting name notoriety so that I would win,” Fraser said.
After the process of campaigning, the elections took place. Teacher and leadership adviser Jamie Mooring comments on what the experience is like for candidates.
“It is scary. You are putting yourself out there to be rejected. One of the things that I try to tell everybody who runs or is thinking about running is to ask, ‘what do you have to lose?’ Your pride, for a few minutes. If you do not win, it feels icky for the first evening and then it does not matter anymore. They have nothing to lose,” Mooring said.
For four of the candidates who achieved their goals of being elected into position, their efforts paid off. Being leaders of the school means being more involved with the school and its students. Robillard shares his ideas of what a school president should be like, in his eyes.
“To me, [being] ASB president means to not only be a leader and help others but to be an example of what it means to be a Viking and always representing your school and your peers,” Robillard said. “Some of my responsibilities would be being a leader and setting a good example, being someone that people can come talk to, being respectful and nice to not only students but teachers and staff.”
Treasurer-elect Ebner discusses what he is most looking forward to next school year.
“[I am excited] for the opportunities. I do not know exactly what is going to come along next year and I am really looking forward to what is going to surprise me,” Ebner said. “With all the people that I will be working with me next year, it will be a fun year. I want to make this school a better place. It is already great as it is but I want to make it even better and just help improve it.”
Much like Ebner, Pierce is also looking forward to what will get accomplished as the ASB team works together.
“I think I have the best team surrounding me so I am really excited to get to work with them and make decisions with them,” Pierce said. “Also I am excited because we have a lot of ideas and goals for next year. I am excited to really get those going and really hope to make sure that those happen and leave our legacy behind.”
In the upcoming year, the ASB officers will have the chance to reach out to students. Robillard elaborates on some of the officers’ goals that he would like to see achieved.
“I think our goal is to make this school the best it has ever been, with students feeling respected. Also we hope that students come to school and are having a good time, having a good time after school and feeling safe at PHS,” Robillard said. “I think my overall goal would be to have students come to school and actually enjoy themselves, rather than coming to school and feeling like they do not want to be here.”
The four officers have a positive outlook on what their future will look like as leaders. Mooring addresses what the students of PHS can expect from the new ASB leaders.
“This group is dedicated to making sure that they serve the school. They are service-related kids for sure. I do not think that they realize how much time is actually going to go into it but I know that they will be alright when that time commitment comes,” Mooring said.
Mooring continues to explain the qualities of the Robillard, Ebner, Fraser and Pierce as leaders.
“ I think that you will have officers that you can be proud of who are going to not just going to talk about being leaders, but who are actually going to embody what it should be to be a Viking leader at Puyallup High School,” Mooring said. “As far as eliciting big change, I do not think there are going to be big changes but there are going to be small things that [the officers] do regularly that will positively impact the school. I am looking forward to it. I think that they will all do a great job.”