ASB’s Do Something commission makes a poster for their upcoming canned food drive. “Do Something really is just trying to make Carlmont and the community a better, happier place,” said Paige Wellman, a sophomore and Do Something commissioner. (Andrew Ghazouli)
ASB’s Do Something commission makes a poster for their upcoming canned food drive. “Do Something really is just trying to make Carlmont and the community a better, happier place,” said Paige Wellman, a sophomore and Do Something commissioner.

Andrew Ghazouli

Spotlight on ASB

November 2, 2019

Within Carlmont’s Associated Student Body there are two main councils, the activities council, and the service council. The activities council includes the following commissions: assemblies, dance, finance, media, publicity, spirit, class officers, and the executive board. In contrast, the service council encompasses these commissions: clubs and culture, access, human Relations, media, publicity, do something, reach out, recognition, and their executive board.

In the past month, Scot Scoop has focused on three councils in particular. The stories below feature an in-depth look at the Finance commission, the Reach Out commission, and the Do Something commission.

Do Something commission promotes service and spirit

Pursuing the ambitious goal of inspiring social changes, the Associated Student Body’s (ASB) Do Something commission plans events ranging from football tailgates to blood drives at Carlmont.

As a part of the Service Council in ASB, they benefit Carlmont’s students by engaging them in activities and events on campus.

“[Do Something commission] is a body that finds activities they can organize for the student body that helps make a difference directly into the Carlmont community but also into the larger community as a whole,” said Jim Kelly, the ASB activities director.

Initially inspired by DoSomething.org, ASB’s commission joined the global movement around five years ago. Full of motivation, they cultivated a vision of a better community they hope to help build.

As they continue to lend themselves to that ultimate goal, many Carlmont students have felt that the commission builds a sense of community through less traditional, service-oriented means, as students are brought together for events like the blood drive.

“I think it’s great to see things like the blood drive run by the Do Something commission. It really allows Carlmont to help a lot of people out in such an important way,” said Donovan Truel, a sophomore.

What students often don’t see is the commitment of the commissioners who organize these events and their passion for making a difference.

“I joined Do Something because I love how it gets people involved that don’t tend to do all the spirit-type activities. It also is a really cool commission since it has a lot of freedom to plan different types of activities,” said Ryan Irwin, a junior.

They planned a canned food drive that will be held from Nov. 4 to Nov. 20 and also discussed solutions to problems they may encounter. As they saw their plan starting to come together, their smiles radiated with optimism.

“A lot of work goes into planning all these events because there are so many small things that go into it all. We have to publicize, write reminders, coordinate with all the people involved, and a lot of other things,” Irwin said.

The commission has already completed numerous projects this year, including the blood drive, making gift bags for members of Students Offering Support, and hanging up pledge ribbons from the school-wide activity involving the novel “The Hate You Give.”

Later in the school year, the commission hopes to plan a pride celebration in June, as well as an event with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“We’re not doing this to get any kind of recognition,” Kelly said. “We’re doing it because these are things that really benefit our community and our students.”

ASB Recognition commission spreads positivity throughout the campus

ASBs+Recognition+commission+puts+up+colorful+and+optimistic+notes+and+posters+in+C+hall.

Camille Kay

ASB’s Recognition commission puts up colorful and optimistic notes and posters in C hall.

ASB’s Recognition commission boosts student spirit and adds color and cheer to the hallways through positive notes.

When a student walks from class to class, the notes and messages can be seen on lockers or in the bathrooms on campus. The notes provide inspiration or just something simple to make students smile. 

“When I read a positive note in the hallway it brightens my day,” said Marguerite Fields, a sophomore. “Especially when I find one spontaneously, it’s a nice little surprise to my day.”  

For students who might not have a lot of one on one interactions during the school day or do not have time to talk to a lot of their friends, these messages can provide a less lonely atmosphere.

The Recognition commission’s goal is to create an optimistic and welcoming environment for all students regardless of who they are. The sticky notes can reach out to anyone and can be located almost anywhere on school grounds. 

“It doesn’t really ask anyone to do anything, like activities you have to go to and they’re really fun but some people don’t feel comfortable doing that. So what we really do is we bring everything to the person receiving it,” said Sadie Boynton, a sophomore and a member of the Recognition commission.   

School, sports, and other commitments can create a lot of stress and pressure on a student. The notes can take someone who is having a bad day and improve their self-esteem and help them feel like other people are going through similar times.

“You never know what somebody’s going through and you never know how much a little thing can make a change,” said Taylor Snow, a junior and member of the Recognition commission.  

It is not just students who read these messages, as teachers appreciate a little encouragement as well. A nice reminder every now and then to keep up the good work goes a long way to support Carlmont’s staff. 

“October is a rough month for kids and for teachers. So it helped me that everyone cares to support me,” said Camille Erskine, a teacher at Carlmont and the adviser for the Positivity 101 Club.

It is important to support everyone at Carlmont, whether it is a student, a teacher, or someone in administration. ASB also has “pass it on” cards that students or staff members can hand out to anyone to pass on encouraging messages and positivity.

“Give somebody a compliment, it’s just the little things that count sometimes,” Snow said.

Finance commission gets ASB its money’s worth

ASBs+Finance+commission+counts+money+collected+from+Carlmonts+homecoming+football+game.

Sean Liuli

ASB’s Finance commission counts money collected from Carlmont’s homecoming football game.

Carlmont’s Associated Student Body (ASB) is known for the events it puts on, the tickets it sells, and the spirit it has, all of which involve moving money around. That’s where the ASB’s Finance commission comes into play.

Along with sophomores Nicholas Voong and Isabella Peterson, supervisor Jackson Tam, a senior, organizes the funds that pay for the various activities and services that ASB offers.

ASB has several commissions that serve different purposes. For example, the Do Something commission inspires social change at Carlmont, and the Dance commission organizes the dances that Carlmont has throughout the year. Likewise, the finance commission keeps track of all of ASB’s expenses.

“Finance commissioners collect and deposit all of the money that comes into the ASB account,” said Jim Kelly, the ASB adviser. “They collect it, organize it, keep financial records of it, deposit it properly, and they are the people who are the first line of accounting for the expenses that come out of the ASB account. They also help to create and maintain our annual ASB budget.”

Pullquote Photo

I feel like we relieve the duties of tedious things that people don’t want to do, […] but we like doing that stuff.

— Isabella Peterson

The Finance commission is ASB’s “first line of customer service,” making sure all transactions with students go smoothly. They are in charge of selling everything from tickets to dances and football games to holiday grams.

“We sell during the football game, so it gives other people opportunities to go have fun,” Voong said.

In addition to their duties, members of the commission promote a friendly environment between them and their customers.

“I really like hanging out at the games and selling, but I also like to interact with all of my friends or all of the people going into the game because that teaches me good people skills,” Peterson said.

Not only does the Finance commission provide an opportunity to contribute to the school and have fun, but it is also a learning experience. Peterson and Voong are both in their first year of ASB and are already learning the ins and outs of handling finances.

“I didn’t really know a lot [about finance], but I was open to learning and I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the past two months of school,” Peterson said.

For Tam, being in the Finance commission is like having a job. As he describes it, the responsibilities and skills required to be in the commission are similar to those of accounting. This opportunity could prove beneficial to the commissioners, as it allows them to gain real-world experience and explore a possible career path.

About the Writers
Photo of Andrew Ghazouli
Andrew Ghazouli, Segment Producer
Andrew Ghazouli is a sophomore at Carlmont High School and this is his first year in journalism. He is interested in journalism because of its power to spread knowledge and ideas and believes that being informed is very important in everyday life.

Twitter: @arghazouli
Photo of Camille Kay
Camille Kay, Staff Writer
Camille Kay is a sophomore at Carlmont High School and this is her first year in journalism. She enjoys the vibrant and social events that ASB puts on.

Twitter: @CamilleKay6
Photo of David Su
David Su, Podcast Producer
David Su is a junior at Carlmont High School in the Media Arts English program. He is interested in sports and e-sports, and will be podcasting this year.

Twitter: @daviidsu2
Photo of Sean Liuli
Sean Liuli, Podcast Producer
Sean Liuli is a junior at Carlmont High School. He covers topics regarding current events and interesting ideas on his podcast.

Twitter: @sean_liuli

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