Revisiting ASB, three seniors gave insight as to what the organization has in store for the year. They also share what it’s been like through the years, and how they’ll be tying it up as they spend their last year in ASB.

   The current Senior Class president Piper Takenaka (12), described a year-long standing part of ASB: “I joined ASB last year…as a class council member…So since I’ve been in since my junior year, I’m just continuing from then.” Reportedly, Takenaka worked on tasks that contributed to many significant projects last year: “One of the biggest things was making decorations and making big posters…I was very proud of working on something like that.” It may not seem like much, but it would end up reaching all of West High. “It was something that the whole school was going to see,” Takenaka explained, “so it was something that I had to put a lot of time and effort in to make it look good.” Takenaka reflected on her results with satisfaction for the role that she was assigned..

   Shannon Shaw (12), being part of the class council, shared the experiences she’s collected over her first year: “I’ve always known that ASB is into getting everyone involved and including everyone, so I really wanted to be a part of that.” Now that she’s in, COVID-19 has wasted no time in testing Shaw and the senior team. Despite the circumstances, she expressed, “We’re definitely trying to have virtual events on Zoom…There’s a lot of guidelines right now, so it’s kind of hard to get anything approved at the moment. ”

   Takenaka chimed in, commenting, “We recently did a homecoming court nomination thing, because we’re trying to normalize stuff that we used to do last year.” Since nothing is set in stone, it’s difficult to schedule or announce anything. “We might be having a homecoming game and a dance later in the future,” Takenaka explained, elaborating on the possibility of socially distant games and activities. Unfortunately, it’s all up in the air right now. 

   Dylan Ho (12), the current historian, explained his own situation amidst these challenging times: “This is my first year, so I’ve been doing it for only a couple months.” Like Shaw, Ho is experiencing the tumult of organizing social events in an isolated world. He offered up his own achievements, stating, “This year, ASB made a website, and that’s the biggest thing I’ve worked on—helping create it and maintain it for information for the students.” It’s an important part in the grand scale of things, as stated by Ho, “a big goal this year is to keep everyone connected, especially since we’re all at home now; we don’t get to see people.” The three had high hopes for this year’s future, and are determined to leave West High with good memories.

   Though it’s had its challenges, quarantine has not stopped ASB from continuing their activities and reaching their goals. They make it out to be a challenge that they’ll overcome. Leaving some parting words, Ho stated, “[ASB is] about gaining experience with leadership, working behind the scenes, working with older or younger people, and doing stuff for the people.”