The votes are in! The Associate Student Body (ASB) election took place on May 6. The officers for the 2021-’22 school year have been announced. They are as follows: 

Senior Class officers: Braquelle Blanchard, Noah Gilbertson, Amanda Jiricek, Jacob Fitzpatrick, Samantha Ramos, Janani Romero, Lacey Thurley and Emily Phuong Tran. 

Junior Class officers: Aaron Lakeman, Amanda Fronczak, David Jones, Jonathan Mercado, Lianna Smith, Molly Miller, Naasei Lynn and Sarah Craner. 

Sophomore Class officers: Amity Humphrey, Elizabeth Graham, Frida Ruiz, Henry Findtner, Kevin Jiricek, Olivia Trone, Simon Phipps and Taelata-I-Siumalu Fusitu’a. 

From the morning announcement show The Weekly Wolf to organizing events and popularizing clubs, ASB has long been an integral piece of culture and familiarity for the student body of Tualatin High School. 

Several ASB officers noted that the most important goals for them next year are diversity within the leadership team and ensuring that all student voices are not only heard but acted upon in a way that works in the best interest of the student body. They also mentioned the importance of utilizing events to support and provide for the student body. 

In the past, ASB has been known for its involvement within the school. To an extent, this was due to the popular events that ASB was in charge of planning, although the current uncertainty about next year raises a larger question: what about unity? 

Many students have stated feelings of isolation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent switch to online learning. The lack of familiarity of a classroom, the loss of normal social interactions within a school environment such as lunch or passing periods and the discontinuation of many school-related events are reasons for this feeling of isolation. 

Some of the ASB officers indicated that there are some discrepancies on what can be done to build unity among students that are dependent on whether online school is continued into the fall or if in-person classes will be permitted to resume. The officers are clear on their devotion to reuniting the student body and affirmed their commitment to unity through their usual events intended to be fun for all students, and one mentioned a desire to be able to provide support and an ability to reach out to students in addition to these events. 

“As we return to in-person school, ASB plans to reconnect and engage students to come together by promoting events and by listening to the student body more than ever,” senior officer Samantha Ramos said. “Every student went through something during this difficult time, and ASB wants to show our support by letting students know it is more than okay to reach out.”

Should in-person school resume and should ASB be able to host events, it seems they have no plans to slow down and, instead, hope to ramp up the activities to bring students back together quickly next year.