Meet the 2024 ASB Cabinet
vikingssamohi via Instagram / Contributor
From left to right: Tammy Ikumi (‘25), Haley Castanaza (‘26), Ethan Fitzgerald (‘25), Ry Bardacke (‘25) and Sadie Gryczman (‘26) : The incoming cabinet members for next year’s ASB.
During Flex-Time on February 21, Samo underwent its annual ASB executive board elections for the 2024-2025 school year. Two days later, the election results were announced. Join us in welcoming the cabinet-elect members for the 2024-25 school year!
Current ASB President Mary Wondwossen ('24) will be passing her duties to Ethan Fitzgerald (’25) whose campaign speech included a persuasive rap performance about why students should vote for him.
“It was so amazing and a true honor to be elected as ASB President for Samo,” Fitzgerald said. “I am sincerely grateful for this very special opportunity to represent my fellow students.”
As president, Fitzgerald will be the face and leader of the organization since he will be responsible for planning and organizing activities in ASB such as pep rallies, Homecoming, spirit days and more.
“My goal for the school is to create a happier and more unified Samo, making it a better high school experience for everyone,” Fitzgerald said. “As ASB President next year, I definitely would like to create more frequent, exciting and fun events.”
A role that some view as just as important as the president would be the vice president, which will be taken over by Ry Bardacke who won unopposed. Bardacke will have the duties of assisting Fitzgerald carry out his plans and ensuring that the rest of the cabinet is carrying out their responsibilities thoroughly. Bardacke mentions his hopes for next school year.
“We worked really well together last year and I am glad to have him back,” Bardacke said. “I want to expand the class and reorganize how we think about our committees right now.”
As executive secretary next school year, Tammy Ikumi will record notes and track the minutes of ASB meetings, as well as helping to organize the events in hopes to increase student engagement with the school. As a member of Samo’s pep squad, Ikumi believes school spirit is important to the school and hopes to contribute to its increase in the following school year. Ikumi plans to organize events such as themed lunches in the Innovation Quad and more spirit weeks to ensure each Samo student's experience is more enjoyable.
“I would like more freshmen, sophomores and especially the juniors to be more active in pep rallies," Ikumi said. "I feel like a lot of it is mostly seniors active during each rally.”
Sadie Gryczman will serve as the executive treasurer in the next school year. Gryczman will be in charge of fundraising and handling the finances of ASB. As treasurer, she will determine and monitor the costs of all ASB events. Gryczman gives insight into the cost of materials for dances such as Homecoming.
“Dance ticket prices are really expensive and not reasonable for some people and I feel like some of our investments just aren’t made public," Gryczman said. "People should know exactly where the money is going."
Finally, the executive student board member for next year will be Haley Castanaza. As a student member of the board, Castanza will serve as the connection between the student body and school board. Haley Castanaza will be taking on these duties to help the issues around the school get fixed and to discuss similar topics around those issues with the board.
“I want to form connections with student board members so things can happen like maintenance in the bathrooms and improving a lot of the school's issues,” Castanaza said.
Overall, next year’s ASB executive cabinet is looking forward to improving Samo as a whole such as school spirit, school maintenance and transparency about funding. The Samo community is looking forward to another productive and enjoyable year starting this fall.