By Stany Hernandez
From the start of the school year, many students at John Glenn High School feel that ASB hasn’t done their job very well.
The issues of timeliness and preparedness are things that turn off students from participating. When things are poorly planned, it gives the students the impression that other school events will be just as bad, despite ASB’s best efforts. It leads students to believe that the school has nothing good to offer, making school spirit drop in the process. We deserve to have a student government that represents what we want and creates the best high school experience for us possible to make us proud to be John Glenn Eagles.
However, this responsibility does not solely lie with ASB, but rather the students as well. ASB needs help and they can’t do it alone. Students don’t want to be involved, yet still seem to blame ASB when they don’t have any fun. You can’t call something “cringe” or “wack” when you don’t even give yourself a chance to enjoy it. We’re allowed to do silly, dumb things, even if others may judge us. As long as you’re having fun, it’s always worth it.
If you feel school spirit is dropping, do something about it. We have so many programs and activities that have the potential to expand your view of this school besides being “boring.” Spirit comes from all of us, and you play a part–even in your indifference.
School spirit is one of the things our campus most struggles with. Although it has become normal for students to not participate in school activities, it is incredibly alarming how little people care. Arguably, the biggest part of ASB is to improve and promote the school spirit, so when students have the lowest opinion of school that we’ve ever seen, there should be sirens going off that there’s something to be fixed, and frankly ASB is not responding well. When there is poor execution, the end results are bound to be less than what is expected. People want to get involved, improve on school spirit, if and when ASB plans events thoroughly, in a timely manner. Many students want to get involved and improve school spirit, but ASB needs to plan events more thoroughly to allow them to build on it.
We first saw this lack of planning play out in the coordination of the “Senior Sunrise.” If you aren’t a senior, perhaps you aren’t aware of what happened during the event. Students watched the sunrise from the gates of the schools because nobody was there to open them up, and once somebody was there, we sat silently on the field waiting for the sun to fully come up. There was no music, no posters until everybody had left, and food wasn’t provided until much later. One student remarked, “Senior sunrise was … okay. It wasn’t really anything special.”
Shouldn’t it have been special? While it wouldn’t necessarily be something that ASB needs to go all out for, it still would have elevated the first senior experience of the year and made it memorable, if there had been more preparation. Instead, it left a poor first impression of ASB on this year’s seniors.
Homecoming events also experienced poor planning, as key figures were informed of things at the very last minute. When it comes to homecoming royalty, the changing of the previous process has been viewed as unnecessary. Instead of being inclusive, the new process has scared many underclassmen from running in future years. ASB tried to fix something that wasn’t broken, and many members of ASB also felt that it wasn’t a necessary change.
For the majority of the candidates’ campaigning, they were kept in the dark as to when voting took place, or many other details regarding the event. We were made aware of the existence of a pep rally the day before it was set to happen and of our placement on the football field (in a message sent to the entire student body, we were told to meet in the ASB room during first period). Teachers were not informed of a Friday pep rally until the morning of the event, and many were confused about the day’s schedule, which also included an earthquake drill. Previous homecoming court candidates were at least given a rough outline of what to expect through the application process, voting, and rallies and events, and it seemed that more teachers and adults were aware of the information well ahead of time.
None of this is to undermine the efforts of the ASB students creating countless posters for the quad and to decorate at football games. It is also important to highlight ASB’s struggles because of the pandemic. Last year, there were a lot of COVID restrictions, so we couldn’t obtain the full experience our school has to offer because of it. A faculty member reflected on this point, saying, “ASB has faced tremendous difficulties this year so I feel that considering those difficulties, they are performing admirably.” The faculty member also mentioned that, “The last few years have been extremely difficult–not just for students and staff but also for clubs and organizations. It definitely takes a while to get back into the swing of things. I think they’re doing the best they absolutely can. I think we’re seeing some of those rewards, but also there’s room for growth.” ASB is dealing with a lot of changes and struggles, of which we could be of service to.
Possible solutions to ASB’s issues that would soften the harsh perspective that students have on them (if they accept our constructive criticisms and concerns) include the following: One solution would be to simply plan things a month or a month and a half ahead of time. This is just to account for any hiccups that may be encountered and to get ahead of any issues as they arise. Schoolwide events should have at least a week’s notice, but normally we would like to have a two-week’s notice. A good rule of thumb for big events is to assume that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Think of any possible question about the event and figure out possible solutions ahead of time, so you have all the answers and nobody is left confused.
Another suggestion would be to ask for student opinions or feedback regularly. We should encourage a place where students can submit their quarrels or requests about events they think could be enjoyed by the student body. Members of ASB should be known and recognized so people could know where to direct their questions and input to, but a form or anonymous feedback box would keep things organized.
The senior class has been the only ones to experience an ASB that hasn’t been impacted the entire term due to COVID, and we should be the ones to give that experience back to the underclassmen. I implore this senior class of 2023, especially, to get involved and keep these Eagle traditions alive. Anyone who feels especially spirited and wants to help towards this effort should join ASB or become a class senator and do what you can towards this effort. ASB will never have too many people, so consider joining and talk to Mrs. Cruz in room 704.
The Shoemaker Bugle 