At Camas High School (CHS), officers were recently voted into the Associated Student Body (ASB) to take up the positions of president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and sergeant at arms. Most do not know how much they do for the school and how you can also run for ASB.
The ASB carries out the will of the students and plans school events such as Prom, Homecoming and spirit weeks. With all the positions working together and holding regular meetings, the ASB can communicate with the CHS school board and make needed changes according to the student body.
“As president, you could manage anything related to student culture,” 2024 ASB presidential candidate Liam Hillyard said. “They could do whatever they want as long as it relates directly to the student body.”
“As vice president you fill in wherever is needed and lend a hand to anyone,” ASB vice president candidate Isabella Azpeitiamacias said.
“At the ASB meetings, the sergeant at arms is supposed to maintain order and make sure things run smoothly,” ASB sergeant at arms candidate Jeffery Johnson said. Additionally, the sergeant at arms assumes the responsibility of giving the morning announcements over the intercom.
This year’s vote for president is the closest it has been with there only being a vote gap of one that set Hillyard as the runner-up to junior Charlotte Gillespie. Johnson was the only candidate running for the ASB sergeant at arms position and he was able to easily get the position.
“I am running for ASB vice president because I love the school and our community,” Azpeitiamacias said. “I want to give back in a way that is good and will show school spirit and pride.”
“Nobody else was running for it so I stepped up,” Johnson said. “I am comfortable with doing all of the duties and the current junior class president [Gillespie] convinced me to do it.”
CHS faculty help to facilitate meetings held by the ASB so that they are not alone in making decisions for the student body.
“My job is to support them and help facilitate all the dreams they want to see come true throughout the school year,” faculty member Vallerie Parbon said. “We send them [ASB officers] to a six-day camp where they learn a lot of leadership skills that equip them to lead at CHS.”
There are usually only a few students who take the time to run for ASB positions out of hundreds in the class year. This could be due to students believing they are unqualified to run for the positions, but that is far from the truth.
“There are technical qualifications like having a high enough GPA,” Parbon said. “But really, the only qualification it comes down to is whether or not you have a desire to serve and make the high school a better place.”