New faces of Samo ASB at work

Chloe DirectorStaff Writer As the 2010-2011 school year comes to a close, and Samo seniors say their goodbyes, a wave of fresh new faces takes on leadership roles at 601 Pico Blvd. The newly elected ASB cabinet of 2011-2012 has many ideas to improve Samo and make next year the most spirited year in the school’s history.Incoming ASB president Hunter Conrad wants to focus on communication between ASB members and administration, as well as between ASB members and students. Conrad said her overall goals are to make ASB more efficient and effective as a class, and to provide Samo students with fun and well-run school events. She hopes this will create a more unified student body.“I plan to work closely with the entire executive board, the administration — especially the new principal — and hopefully the student body,” Conrad said. “I want kids outside of ASB to contribute ideas to the ASB class to create the events and changes they want to see at Samo.”In addition, Conrad plans to tackle the problem of campus litter. “Too many kids at our school are unaware of the amount of trash they leave out and how that effects our local environment,” Conrad said.Conrad believes if students cleaned up their own trash, little by little, the campus would become a brighter and more pleasing environment. This would create harmony and encourage students to have a more positive attitude about their school.In the eyes of incoming ASB vice president, rising senior Rebecca Sherouse, next year’s ASB leaders need to look at the bigger picture in student leadership. Sherouse’s goal is to “refocus and redefine the job of our student government.”“There are big changes happening in our school district, and my goal is to have our student government involved in policy changes as much as event planning. If we are able to get our voices heard on a district level, I feel we can make massive changes for the betterment of the Samohi student body,” Sherouse said.Other incoming officers also have big plans for Samo. “My first order of business is going to be bringing back Valentine’s Day messages over the PA system,” new Speaker of the House Patrick King said.King hopes that he will make the announcements more fun and interesting by making people laugh. However, he promises to make sure they also stay informative.Samo’s former Speaker of House for the 2010-2011 school year, Clea DeCrane is extremely confident that the new officers will tackle crucial issues.“I felt like this year’s class had a lot of spirit and was a close group. However, we were stuck without pep rallies and didn’t accomplish nearly as much as we wanted to,” DeCrane said. “I know that the new officers are serious. They are going to accomplish everything we wanted to this year in addition to the new issues they will face next year.”King does mean business. He is going to try his hardest to bring back pep rallies to Samo.  Finally, King wants to improve publicity, working with Blue Crew and his sports committee to raise awareness about existing Samo sporting events, while also organizing new events.  Aside from ASB, King hones his leadership skills as an active member of Junior Steering, Big Brothers and Sisters and Cetacean Preservation.King is an enthusiastic booster of Samo and ASB, but he is practical about his goals. He knows he has to take baby steps in order to reach the big dreams he has for Samo.“I think some students could have a closed mind and just not participate in activities,” King said. “We can try to prevent this by giving the students incentives to show school spirit.”Conrad is realistic about the challenges of satisfying everyone in a school of over 3,000 students.“I think that it will be hard to create a unified school, because we are so diverse and there are so many people. I also think administration might not approve all of our plans for next year, making it so there cannot be many ‘unifying’ events,” Conrad said. “We are going to have to encourage students to overlook each other’s differences and create events that appeal to more than one audience.”Even with the challenges ahead, the new ASB leadership is optimistic about the future. “My favorite part of Samo is our diversity,” Conrad said. “We have so many different people and everyone has a place which I think is pretty awesome.”Overall, ASB has bright plans for the upcoming school year.“Next year is going to be pretty solid, so I’m hyped,” King said.cdirector@thesamohi.com