By Laurie O’Brien
We’re a month into the school year, but local high school ASB (Associated Student Body) officers have been hard at work since mid-summer planning for upcoming projects and making sure that incoming students feel welcome in their schools. ThurstonTalk will be interviewing students from all of our school districts over the next few months. We want to know what students are doing to help make a difference both in their schools and in our community.
We start with the ASB presidents from Olympia School District: Freya Jamison, a 17-year-old senior at Capital, and Alli Bautista, also 17, and a senior at Olympia High School.
Both Freya and Alli have been involved in student leadership for multiple years, Freya having served in one role or another since the sixth grade, and Alli starting her tenure when she was elected class president her sophomore year of high school.
Both presidents point to an overriding theme their respective schools have adopted as a guide for the year. At Capital it’s all about pride. “Through our ‘Cougar Strong’ theme for the year (inspired by ‘Army Strong’) we hope to inspire students to show strength of character. As an ASB, we aim to create a climate of school unity, pride, and support. We hope to achieve this through student recognition and inclusion projects,” says Jamison.
Inclusion is also the primary focus at Oly. “We want every person that goes to OHS to feel welcome and as though our school wouldn’t be the same place without them. We want people to feel recognized and respected by their peers,” says Bautista. “Olympia is a school full of extremely diverse talent-from the usual sports but we also have some amazing break-dancers, artists, thespians, dancers, writers, engineers, linguists-you name it, there’s at least one student at Olympia that is good at it.”
September was a busy month for both young women as they helped welcome incoming freshmen and other new students to their schools. Both CHS and OHS held freshman class elections the week prior to our interviews, and acclimating the new officers into the ASB is a priority for both presidents. “(They) will be attending their first ASB meeting this coming Tuesday. The upperclassmen ASB members meet in the summer to bond, so it can be a challenge to create the same connection with newer officers. However, we are committed to making them feel as welcome as possible,” said Jamison. “We will introduce them to the school at our next assembly.”
Integration of the new students is also a priority for Bautista. “Unfortunately, not every class officer is able to be in the ASB Leadership class at school, so each of the four ASB officers has (been) given the job as liaison between their class officers and the ASB Leadership class. The four new freshmen class officers have our ASB Vice President, Clara Vannice, as their liaison. She advises them on any fundraisers they’d like to do, such as class t-shirt sales. She also goes to them for ideas they’d like to see integrated into the activities agenda and informs them about what is currently happening in Leadership class, giving them the opportunity to get involved. The freshmen class officers are also included in the Senate meetings held once a month.”
As far as special projects are concerned, both girls are in the throes of Homecoming planning. Spirit week is always planned by the leadership classes, and the annual Homecoming Dance is also run almost entirely by the ASB. Olympia’s Homecoming is this week, while Capital’s takes place the week of October 22nd.
In November, both schools will be kicking off their annual canned food drives. In addition to having in-school competitions between classes and homerooms, the two schools have a friendly rivalry to see which school can collect the most food. Their combined effort has made the Olympia School District one of the largest donors to the Thurston County Food Bank each year.
Bautista says the drive at Olympia is something that students look forward to every year. “We have prizes and competitions between homerooms, but most of all, we’re blessed to have a student body that loves this chance to give back generously to their community. The Canned Food Drive is a lot of work for the ASB class – we collect then box the cans brought in daily – but it’s one of our favorite times of the year too.”
Says Jamison, “It’s going to be huge this year. We’re having a winter ball depending upon whether we meet our goal for the canned food drive this year. We want to really step up the competition because they (Oly) traditionally beat us.”
Competition aside, both the presidents recognize that there is intrinsic value in the food drive. “It’s so rewarding to see the huge impact that we as high school students can have on others’ lives,” says Bautista.
Being that it is election season, this writer was curious if their experiences in student government have made these two leaders more or less interested in the workings of local and national government. Although neither is eligible to vote in the upcoming general election, they have both developed an appreciation for the amount of work being in a leadership position takes.
Says Jamison, “My involvement in school leadership and my internship for a local political campaign have taught me the importance of being an engaged and informed citizen.” Bautista agrees, “I’ve learned that the best leaders are those who are in it for the betterment of those they are leading rather than their own self-interests or need for power. Our leadership class focuses on the Eight Essentials of Servant Leadership: patience, kindness, humility, selflessness, honesty, commitment, forgiveness, and respect.”
With that kind of insight, it sounds like these two young women are leading their schools in the right direction.
