Claire Morris: Junior Class President
August 2023
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: Although school has just started up I’ve been keeping up with my leadership duties over the summer. In June, I attended the Mental Health Youth Advocacy Program’s training week which lasted for four days. While there, we were educated on different aspects of what mental health really is and how, as advocates, we can better understand the students we will soon be working with. August 24th is the first official training day to prepare us for when we will teach to the community. Later that same week, I attended the Edge Conference in Atherton for three days. What made this weekend special was that every student attending the Conference didn’t know anyone else. The activity directors choose one student to send and from there they get to interact with other students. It was beneficial for learning both leadership and life skills. The last camp that I attended was Core Camp in July, this was a great opportunity to bond with the full class along with the 15 juniors. Prior to this, the juniors got together to design two shirt options to send out to our class. After one of the designs was selected we publicized and got ready to sell at Powwow. The officers all split shifts selling at the event (shoutout to Ximena for filling in where we needed help!) and we were able to make great sales. Before the beginning of school I was also involved in Link Crew so I attended the training, bonding and assisted my group with freshman orientation day. I helped decorate the school for the first day back and worked with the class to pass out spirit items. Over the course of the beginning of school I’ve met often with both the class officers and our full team to discuss various events. We’ve met with Mr. Mayfield to go over details and begin planning Prom since that is our main event this year. As of right now the juniors are focusing on getting ready for the events we have approaching and keeping in mind things to plan for later.
Standing Committees: I am a part of the Balloon Crew, Link Crew, and the Mental Health Advocate. The Balloon Crew put together some bunches for both freshman orientation and first day of school which went smoothly. I helped out in Link Crew by co-leading my group of freshmen in assisting them with their campus tour and questions. As for the Mental Health Advocate, over the summer I worked with Elias in attending a training camp for Mental Health Advocacy and together we wrote an article for the CADA Newsletter. Along with this, I’ve been a part of the team working to potentially write and publish a Mental Health Journal for students.
Special Committees: I am going to be the group leader for planning Dude Be Nice and forming committees for that week. Dude Be Nice is some time away but I still would like to meet with the class to discuss a layout of what we envision the week to look like since it is in the fall. I will also be assisting Sofia and Gia in any more help they need with the My Intent project.
Mentorship Evaluation: My mentor this year is Evangeline! We got to know each other at Core Camp and since then I’ve been trying to help her in getting ready for events and responsibilities she and her class will have to take on. At the open work day over the summer I got to talking with her and others about paperwork and things that will set the freshman up for success. I’m so excited I got paired with her this year and can’t wait to see all she’s able to accomplish. I’d like to get lunch together soon so that we can talk about more outside of leadership work because I can tell how kind of a person she is and would love to get to know her better.
Concerns/change: As of right now my main concern has to do with voicing what you are thinking. As president it’s really important to try your best to hear everyone out on their opinions and ideas but that can be challenging with the size of our class. I feel as though people may be intimidated to say what they are thinking in front of a larger group so then they either address it separately or don’t say anything at all. And while this is often done with good intent in trying to avoid conflict, it can cause more harm than good. The lack of open discussion leads our team to not always be on the same page and can cause unnecessary tension. My hope is that our class grows more comfortable with one another and, as a result, is encouraged to speak out on what they think without feeling like they have to agree with others. Unless we verbally communicate our emotions, (both positive and negative) then we won’t know how one another feels. We all have our own responsibilities and tasks to take care of and cannot always be 100% attuned to what others are concerned about. I think that working together to create a safe environment to speak out would really strengthen the bond and communication of our class.
Positive Comment: My positive comment goes out to Isaiah Green! While I’ve seen so much great work at the beginning of this year, I’ve gotten to work closely with Isaiah since he’s my VP. I truly appreciate the way that he makes an effort to show that he’s there when I need him and that he’s willing to take on different tasks. I have a hard time asking for help so the fact that he voices his desire to support me and our class is something I value a lot! Along with this, he’s adjusting to the class environment and officer position really well for not having prior leadership experience. I look up to Isaiah’s commitment and work ethic in the things that he takes part in.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. While they are all extremely important, I feel that Evolve and Grow with Change has been the most prominent in my life recently. There have been many changes in this program and I’ve been trying to make conscious efforts to work with them, not against them. Everything from the location of our class to the amount of people we have has been changing and I want to keep in mind that change isn’t always a bad thing. Along with the usual class events, my responsibilities this year have also changed in being active in the Mental Health Advocate and creating an elder project. I ultimately want to focus on working these changes into my life in a way that flows, rather than attempting to reject or get rid of them.
My Impact: I believe I’ve had an impact in leadership and across campus by trying to help others in any ways that I can. Between helping students to find a class or lending a hand to a committee that needs help I’ve been doing my best to involve myself in different ways. This year I’ll be doing work for YMHA, Link Crew, Ripon Sober Grad, and leadership, and while this sounds like a lot, these are all things that I’m passionate about. I think that if you really value something then you’ll show an effort to make the time for it. I feel very fulfilled in being able to help my peers and teachers across campus through these programs and groups.
August 2023
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: Although school has just started up I’ve been keeping up with my leadership duties over the summer. In June, I attended the Mental Health Youth Advocacy Program’s training week which lasted for four days. While there, we were educated on different aspects of what mental health really is and how, as advocates, we can better understand the students we will soon be working with. August 24th is the first official training day to prepare us for when we will teach to the community. Later that same week, I attended the Edge Conference in Atherton for three days. What made this weekend special was that every student attending the Conference didn’t know anyone else. The activity directors choose one student to send and from there they get to interact with other students. It was beneficial for learning both leadership and life skills. The last camp that I attended was Core Camp in July, this was a great opportunity to bond with the full class along with the 15 juniors. Prior to this, the juniors got together to design two shirt options to send out to our class. After one of the designs was selected we publicized and got ready to sell at Powwow. The officers all split shifts selling at the event (shoutout to Ximena for filling in where we needed help!) and we were able to make great sales. Before the beginning of school I was also involved in Link Crew so I attended the training, bonding and assisted my group with freshman orientation day. I helped decorate the school for the first day back and worked with the class to pass out spirit items. Over the course of the beginning of school I’ve met often with both the class officers and our full team to discuss various events. We’ve met with Mr. Mayfield to go over details and begin planning Prom since that is our main event this year. As of right now the juniors are focusing on getting ready for the events we have approaching and keeping in mind things to plan for later.
Standing Committees: I am a part of the Balloon Crew, Link Crew, and the Mental Health Advocate. The Balloon Crew put together some bunches for both freshman orientation and first day of school which went smoothly. I helped out in Link Crew by co-leading my group of freshmen in assisting them with their campus tour and questions. As for the Mental Health Advocate, over the summer I worked with Elias in attending a training camp for Mental Health Advocacy and together we wrote an article for the CADA Newsletter. Along with this, I’ve been a part of the team working to potentially write and publish a Mental Health Journal for students.
Special Committees: I am going to be the group leader for planning Dude Be Nice and forming committees for that week. Dude Be Nice is some time away but I still would like to meet with the class to discuss a layout of what we envision the week to look like since it is in the fall. I will also be assisting Sofia and Gia in any more help they need with the My Intent project.
Mentorship Evaluation: My mentor this year is Evangeline! We got to know each other at Core Camp and since then I’ve been trying to help her in getting ready for events and responsibilities she and her class will have to take on. At the open work day over the summer I got to talking with her and others about paperwork and things that will set the freshman up for success. I’m so excited I got paired with her this year and can’t wait to see all she’s able to accomplish. I’d like to get lunch together soon so that we can talk about more outside of leadership work because I can tell how kind of a person she is and would love to get to know her better.
Concerns/change: As of right now my main concern has to do with voicing what you are thinking. As president it’s really important to try your best to hear everyone out on their opinions and ideas but that can be challenging with the size of our class. I feel as though people may be intimidated to say what they are thinking in front of a larger group so then they either address it separately or don’t say anything at all. And while this is often done with good intent in trying to avoid conflict, it can cause more harm than good. The lack of open discussion leads our team to not always be on the same page and can cause unnecessary tension. My hope is that our class grows more comfortable with one another and, as a result, is encouraged to speak out on what they think without feeling like they have to agree with others. Unless we verbally communicate our emotions, (both positive and negative) then we won’t know how one another feels. We all have our own responsibilities and tasks to take care of and cannot always be 100% attuned to what others are concerned about. I think that working together to create a safe environment to speak out would really strengthen the bond and communication of our class.
Positive Comment: My positive comment goes out to Isaiah Green! While I’ve seen so much great work at the beginning of this year, I’ve gotten to work closely with Isaiah since he’s my VP. I truly appreciate the way that he makes an effort to show that he’s there when I need him and that he’s willing to take on different tasks. I have a hard time asking for help so the fact that he voices his desire to support me and our class is something I value a lot! Along with this, he’s adjusting to the class environment and officer position really well for not having prior leadership experience. I look up to Isaiah’s commitment and work ethic in the things that he takes part in.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. While they are all extremely important, I feel that Evolve and Grow with Change has been the most prominent in my life recently. There have been many changes in this program and I’ve been trying to make conscious efforts to work with them, not against them. Everything from the location of our class to the amount of people we have has been changing and I want to keep in mind that change isn’t always a bad thing. Along with the usual class events, my responsibilities this year have also changed in being active in the Mental Health Advocate and creating an elder project. I ultimately want to focus on working these changes into my life in a way that flows, rather than attempting to reject or get rid of them.
My Impact: I believe I’ve had an impact in leadership and across campus by trying to help others in any ways that I can. Between helping students to find a class or lending a hand to a committee that needs help I’ve been doing my best to involve myself in different ways. This year I’ll be doing work for YMHA, Link Crew, Ripon Sober Grad, and leadership, and while this sounds like a lot, these are all things that I’m passionate about. I think that if you really value something then you’ll show an effort to make the time for it. I feel very fulfilled in being able to help my peers and teachers across campus through these programs and groups.
Claire Morris: Junior Class President
September 2023
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: Work since the end of August has not slowed down one bit! I've been mainly focused on Homecoming and Dude Be Nice, but there has been a good deal of time spent on committee work as well. This week marks the beginning of HOCO as it's the candidate reveal rally. I'm going to be helping my class with decor for this as well as helping Jenna since I am the trainee for coronation. We had a bit of a chaotic start due to some trailer troubles but luckily everything worked out! Our prep for decorations have been going smoothly so far. We have solid designs and have improved in our time management from last year. As for the lip sync, we've had a couple of practices so far and are going to also practice on the field as the night rally is in exactly a week. There are a lot of people who have expressed interest in participating in both the dance and decorating which is really refreshing. We are on track for HOCO at this point so fingers crossed everything goes to plan. HOCO also includes coronation so I've been trying to stay updated on that as well. Jenna has done a really great job with all of the organizing so far so I have complete confidence in the event. I'll be helping with giving the candidates their items they need as well as handing them the reveal envelopes the night of. For Dude Be Nice we are currently in the planning process. We recently had a meeting with Morty in order to get all of the details we will need for the week organized. At this point all we can really do is track our club involvement and what they will be contributing to the week as we don't have our Dude/Dudette yet. Once we decide that as a class then the ball will get rolling and we can do more detailed work like putting a basket together and personalizing the week. As the year continues, Elias and I have been collaborating on the Mental Health Advocate. We've been to about two trainings in the school year and are honestly really eager to get out there in the community. For a very much in advance update the officers have met with our advisor, Mr. Mayfield, for prom and we're getting a good head start on it. Luckily Rustic Ranch handles a lot of the booking for things like DJ, catering, etc... Hopefully these next couple of weeks go well with all of the work and the prep we've done to succeed.
Standing Committees: The standing committees that I'm in are Balloon Crew and The Mental Health Advocate. Balloon Crew has been pretty busy recently as there have been a couple of arches made and lots of bundles for spirit bombs. I'm honestly really happy with how it's been going because the new members into the team have learned pretty quickly. For The Mental Health Advocate Elias and I have gone to our monthly trainings and are preparing for the upcoming lesson we plan to do. We'd like to start off by giving a lesson at an elementary school in October. The journal has been going well along with the small committee for it, now we're working on refining the chapters and what they will include.
Special Committees: The special committees that I'm in are Dude Be Nice and Coronation. I will say I'm really excited for DBN this year. We've had a meeting with Morty to go over the general idea of what we will need to have ready and the tasks that will have to be completed. In the meeting I decided this year that I wanted no part of DBN to be a competition. This means no rally games, no spirit counts, etc. This may seem boring to some people, but in my way of thinking DBN should be all about coming together to express gratitude, not trying to win against each other. Coronation has been going well, we have an upcoming meeting to go over what the responsibilities are of the committee before HOCO begins. At the court reveal rally I will be assisting Jenna in giving the nominees their flowers and sashes and at the winner reveal I will be handing the reveal envelopes.
Mentorship Evaluation: Evangeline and I have been doing well in our mentorship! This month's mentor assignment was to come up with some general goals that we share for the year. That was pretty easy for us to do as I think we share a lot of the same goals. I'd love to take her out to lunch one day or do some sort of bonding outside of school hours. I've talked to her and the freshmen a bit about events and tried to help them with tips I've picked up over the years. It's so great to see her being so involved with her class and eager to do well. She also spoke for the freshmen at the last ASB meeting which made me proud!
Concerns/change: This ASB report I have a concern and a change I would like to address. My main concern is with people's responsibility in the program. Approaching Homecoming there has been a lot of information sent out and things asked of people. While there are many people that do a great job of acknowledging messages and remain reliable, I've also been noticing a significant lack of care. It just frustrates me because often those are the same people who make comments about lack of communication or involvement. My change may be a little controversial but it's something that has been on my mind a lot. I think that in general, but especially regarding Homecoming, a lot of work and pressure is put on the students in the leadership program. This is not just me trying to push for less work and by lazy, rather me trying to look out for our class. I believe that we could either work on things more as a whole team and class or take a good look at all we do in the program and see if there are things worth eliminating. I think that there are some things that shouldn't be all in the hands of the students to take care of.
Positive Comment: My positive comment without a doubt goes to the freshmen. I'm honestly kind of jealous of them because they just decided to skip the universal leadership experience of the freshman rep awkward phase. They've been doing an outstanding job of working together on events and putting the necessary effort into this program that it requires. I also admire how they've grown a tight bond in a matter of months when sometimes it can take groups years. They are a great example of performing to your potential and I'm really proud of the progress they've been making.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. At this point I think that the most prominent one that applies to my life is "Be Impeccable." Approaching a time like Homecoming you really begin to see who puts in genuine thought and effort into the program. If you want to see commitment in the program I think it's important to lead by example which I've been trying to do. Outside of the program I've tried to be impeccable by working my hardest in classes and working to be the best version of myself for others.
My Impact: I believe that I've been a person that people can go to if they need help, on any front. In leadership I always try to make sure if people have questions they know they can ask. Along with that I've tried to check in on the members of my team as far as their wellbeing. I know right now there's a lot going on and it can evoke a lot of stress so it's important for people to know that they have a support system. I never want people to feel alone.
September 2023
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: Work since the end of August has not slowed down one bit! I've been mainly focused on Homecoming and Dude Be Nice, but there has been a good deal of time spent on committee work as well. This week marks the beginning of HOCO as it's the candidate reveal rally. I'm going to be helping my class with decor for this as well as helping Jenna since I am the trainee for coronation. We had a bit of a chaotic start due to some trailer troubles but luckily everything worked out! Our prep for decorations have been going smoothly so far. We have solid designs and have improved in our time management from last year. As for the lip sync, we've had a couple of practices so far and are going to also practice on the field as the night rally is in exactly a week. There are a lot of people who have expressed interest in participating in both the dance and decorating which is really refreshing. We are on track for HOCO at this point so fingers crossed everything goes to plan. HOCO also includes coronation so I've been trying to stay updated on that as well. Jenna has done a really great job with all of the organizing so far so I have complete confidence in the event. I'll be helping with giving the candidates their items they need as well as handing them the reveal envelopes the night of. For Dude Be Nice we are currently in the planning process. We recently had a meeting with Morty in order to get all of the details we will need for the week organized. At this point all we can really do is track our club involvement and what they will be contributing to the week as we don't have our Dude/Dudette yet. Once we decide that as a class then the ball will get rolling and we can do more detailed work like putting a basket together and personalizing the week. As the year continues, Elias and I have been collaborating on the Mental Health Advocate. We've been to about two trainings in the school year and are honestly really eager to get out there in the community. For a very much in advance update the officers have met with our advisor, Mr. Mayfield, for prom and we're getting a good head start on it. Luckily Rustic Ranch handles a lot of the booking for things like DJ, catering, etc... Hopefully these next couple of weeks go well with all of the work and the prep we've done to succeed.
Standing Committees: The standing committees that I'm in are Balloon Crew and The Mental Health Advocate. Balloon Crew has been pretty busy recently as there have been a couple of arches made and lots of bundles for spirit bombs. I'm honestly really happy with how it's been going because the new members into the team have learned pretty quickly. For The Mental Health Advocate Elias and I have gone to our monthly trainings and are preparing for the upcoming lesson we plan to do. We'd like to start off by giving a lesson at an elementary school in October. The journal has been going well along with the small committee for it, now we're working on refining the chapters and what they will include.
Special Committees: The special committees that I'm in are Dude Be Nice and Coronation. I will say I'm really excited for DBN this year. We've had a meeting with Morty to go over the general idea of what we will need to have ready and the tasks that will have to be completed. In the meeting I decided this year that I wanted no part of DBN to be a competition. This means no rally games, no spirit counts, etc. This may seem boring to some people, but in my way of thinking DBN should be all about coming together to express gratitude, not trying to win against each other. Coronation has been going well, we have an upcoming meeting to go over what the responsibilities are of the committee before HOCO begins. At the court reveal rally I will be assisting Jenna in giving the nominees their flowers and sashes and at the winner reveal I will be handing the reveal envelopes.
Mentorship Evaluation: Evangeline and I have been doing well in our mentorship! This month's mentor assignment was to come up with some general goals that we share for the year. That was pretty easy for us to do as I think we share a lot of the same goals. I'd love to take her out to lunch one day or do some sort of bonding outside of school hours. I've talked to her and the freshmen a bit about events and tried to help them with tips I've picked up over the years. It's so great to see her being so involved with her class and eager to do well. She also spoke for the freshmen at the last ASB meeting which made me proud!
Concerns/change: This ASB report I have a concern and a change I would like to address. My main concern is with people's responsibility in the program. Approaching Homecoming there has been a lot of information sent out and things asked of people. While there are many people that do a great job of acknowledging messages and remain reliable, I've also been noticing a significant lack of care. It just frustrates me because often those are the same people who make comments about lack of communication or involvement. My change may be a little controversial but it's something that has been on my mind a lot. I think that in general, but especially regarding Homecoming, a lot of work and pressure is put on the students in the leadership program. This is not just me trying to push for less work and by lazy, rather me trying to look out for our class. I believe that we could either work on things more as a whole team and class or take a good look at all we do in the program and see if there are things worth eliminating. I think that there are some things that shouldn't be all in the hands of the students to take care of.
Positive Comment: My positive comment without a doubt goes to the freshmen. I'm honestly kind of jealous of them because they just decided to skip the universal leadership experience of the freshman rep awkward phase. They've been doing an outstanding job of working together on events and putting the necessary effort into this program that it requires. I also admire how they've grown a tight bond in a matter of months when sometimes it can take groups years. They are a great example of performing to your potential and I'm really proud of the progress they've been making.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. At this point I think that the most prominent one that applies to my life is "Be Impeccable." Approaching a time like Homecoming you really begin to see who puts in genuine thought and effort into the program. If you want to see commitment in the program I think it's important to lead by example which I've been trying to do. Outside of the program I've tried to be impeccable by working my hardest in classes and working to be the best version of myself for others.
My Impact: I believe that I've been a person that people can go to if they need help, on any front. In leadership I always try to make sure if people have questions they know they can ask. Along with that I've tried to check in on the members of my team as far as their wellbeing. I know right now there's a lot going on and it can evoke a lot of stress so it's important for people to know that they have a support system. I never want people to feel alone.
Claire Morris: Junior Class President
Oct, Nov, and Dec 2023
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: There has been quite some time since the last ASB report so there is much to update. I would say that Homecoming overall was a success. We were able to complete all of our work for competitions in time and were satisfied with the end results as we placed second overall. It was interesting having so many people involved just in leadership since our class went from 8 people to 15. Coronation was also a part of Homecoming that I assisted Jenna with. I crowned the king on the night of the reveal and helped with the preparations for the night. Around the time of Homecoming we were able to push out our class shirts and get those to the people we had ordered. The week after Homecoming was Kyoto, and while I was not able to host I did have the pleasure of hanging out with some of the kids. It was so cool to experience the culture exchange as we haven’t really done something like that in my time at Ripon High. Also within this time we completed the mundane task of attempting to organize our spirit boxes. Next was the Dude Be Nice spirit week that the juniors were in charge of. The most challenging part of the week was definitely keeping track of the club’s involvement as they were not super easy to communicate with. Nonetheless, every other aspect of the week went smoothly. I also helped Morty sort out the Dude Be Nice merch ordering and distribution. I was personally so happy to be able to dedicate the week to Mr. Herrin and I hope that he enjoyed being a part of the event as much as we enjoyed putting it on. We had our Leadership Development day and I was one of the group leaders for that event. It’s always a fun yet tiring day but I think it does really encourage students to get involved. I was also a group lead for the CASL write ups that we had to do. My group was able to complete the paper and I believe we really hit all of the points in our prompt that we needed to. The most recent event was Warm and Fuzzy. For the lemonade stand, our theme was Grinch and for the tree, our theme was Elf. Both turned out really well, despite our slight bump in the road with our Christmas tree. I also helped out by decorating a poster for the door decor with mentors. I had the counselor’s office which I was very pleased with and think it turned out super cute. Now it’s all prep for next year’s events. This week the officers have another meeting with Mr. Mayfield to discuss prom details as we believe we have a theme settled on. We are also going to finalize the items we need to order for Winterfest as it always sneaks up on us. I am also trying to organize my presentation for my Elder Project as it’s something that definitely requires a lot of planning and prep work.
Standing Committees: For standing committees I’m in the Balloon Crew and a part of the Mental Health Advocate. Balloon crew has been pretty busy these past couple months between lots of rallies and spirit bombs. We are definitely going to need to put in a PO for a new helium tank because the yearbook rally may have just finished us off on our current one. The Mental Health Advocate has been a little rocky for Elias and I lately as we are trying to figure out dates for our community presentations. There is a lot of prep that needs to be done before we give our lessons and this is the first time this has ever been done so everything is a learning process! But I do believe that the both of us are pretty excited, so we have decided to vist Park View and Ripon Elementary first. Regarding the student written mental health journal, we have recieved a hardcopy! From here I believe we will just be reviewing and revising what we already have but the thought of being published is definitely cool.
Special Committees: I was a part of the Dude Be Nice committee as well as the Coronation committee which I already covered in my position assessment.
Mentorship Evaluation: My mentee this year is Evangeline. Our activities for the past few months have consisted of working on snapraise fundraising, general classwork, and the Warm and Fuzzy posters. I am really proud of her and her team’s work on Warm and Fuzzy because I think they executed their activities well. I enjoy seeing her do well in the program and believe she really has so much to offer! I try to check in and see if she needs help with anything but I would like to do a better job of connecting with her as I want to make sure she knows I’m always here as a resource and a friend!
Concerns/change: A concern that I have in the program right now deals a little with the election process. I am trying my best to not word this in a way that sounds controversial, but it is something that has been catching my attention. I think in this program we often face problems with having people that don’t do work or aren’t super reliable. While we make jokes about this and just brush it off I do believe that it harms our program a bit. It normalizes the pattern of people picking up the slack of others. I believe that this could be fixed within the process of elections or being more thorough about evaluations. Morty has expressed to us lately (sorry for the callout but it’s relevant) that she does not know why some of the people in the program are in this program. This is a valid concern, but it’s also one that can be controlled and is fixable.
Positive Comment: My positive comment goes to Colt. The past few months I have gotten to talk and bond with him more and I’ve genuinely enjoyed it. I believe that he has true qualities of a leader in his dedication and passion to the program. While we are different, I honestly relate to him in the things he struggles with in leadership. I think he has so much potential in this program and am honestly excited to see where high school takes him in general. After the night rally carols I also think he should seriously consider pursuing opera/classical singing in his future.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. I think lately I’ve been applying “The Beacon of Empowerment” into my life. With the past couple of events we have put on there has been a lot of involvement with clubs and other groups outside of leadership. I truly believe that lifting up and supporting other groups besides your own is important. It allows you to practice service and praise/recognition for those around you.
My Impact: I think my impact recently has a lot to do with my personal growth. The beginning months of junior year had not been my best but within the past couple of weeks I think I’ve truly been a lot happier. I think this relates to my impact in that I’ve been trying to connect with others more and check on them as well. Since I am in a better place with myself I’m more equipped to socialize and put myself out there. I’m dumping this all in my ASB report in some hope of getting the message out that it’s okay to have rough patches. The important part is that they don’t last forever and that you’re able to come out of them stronger than you were before. I hope my impact has been setting that kind of example for those around me.
Oct, Nov, and Dec 2023
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: There has been quite some time since the last ASB report so there is much to update. I would say that Homecoming overall was a success. We were able to complete all of our work for competitions in time and were satisfied with the end results as we placed second overall. It was interesting having so many people involved just in leadership since our class went from 8 people to 15. Coronation was also a part of Homecoming that I assisted Jenna with. I crowned the king on the night of the reveal and helped with the preparations for the night. Around the time of Homecoming we were able to push out our class shirts and get those to the people we had ordered. The week after Homecoming was Kyoto, and while I was not able to host I did have the pleasure of hanging out with some of the kids. It was so cool to experience the culture exchange as we haven’t really done something like that in my time at Ripon High. Also within this time we completed the mundane task of attempting to organize our spirit boxes. Next was the Dude Be Nice spirit week that the juniors were in charge of. The most challenging part of the week was definitely keeping track of the club’s involvement as they were not super easy to communicate with. Nonetheless, every other aspect of the week went smoothly. I also helped Morty sort out the Dude Be Nice merch ordering and distribution. I was personally so happy to be able to dedicate the week to Mr. Herrin and I hope that he enjoyed being a part of the event as much as we enjoyed putting it on. We had our Leadership Development day and I was one of the group leaders for that event. It’s always a fun yet tiring day but I think it does really encourage students to get involved. I was also a group lead for the CASL write ups that we had to do. My group was able to complete the paper and I believe we really hit all of the points in our prompt that we needed to. The most recent event was Warm and Fuzzy. For the lemonade stand, our theme was Grinch and for the tree, our theme was Elf. Both turned out really well, despite our slight bump in the road with our Christmas tree. I also helped out by decorating a poster for the door decor with mentors. I had the counselor’s office which I was very pleased with and think it turned out super cute. Now it’s all prep for next year’s events. This week the officers have another meeting with Mr. Mayfield to discuss prom details as we believe we have a theme settled on. We are also going to finalize the items we need to order for Winterfest as it always sneaks up on us. I am also trying to organize my presentation for my Elder Project as it’s something that definitely requires a lot of planning and prep work.
Standing Committees: For standing committees I’m in the Balloon Crew and a part of the Mental Health Advocate. Balloon crew has been pretty busy these past couple months between lots of rallies and spirit bombs. We are definitely going to need to put in a PO for a new helium tank because the yearbook rally may have just finished us off on our current one. The Mental Health Advocate has been a little rocky for Elias and I lately as we are trying to figure out dates for our community presentations. There is a lot of prep that needs to be done before we give our lessons and this is the first time this has ever been done so everything is a learning process! But I do believe that the both of us are pretty excited, so we have decided to vist Park View and Ripon Elementary first. Regarding the student written mental health journal, we have recieved a hardcopy! From here I believe we will just be reviewing and revising what we already have but the thought of being published is definitely cool.
Special Committees: I was a part of the Dude Be Nice committee as well as the Coronation committee which I already covered in my position assessment.
Mentorship Evaluation: My mentee this year is Evangeline. Our activities for the past few months have consisted of working on snapraise fundraising, general classwork, and the Warm and Fuzzy posters. I am really proud of her and her team’s work on Warm and Fuzzy because I think they executed their activities well. I enjoy seeing her do well in the program and believe she really has so much to offer! I try to check in and see if she needs help with anything but I would like to do a better job of connecting with her as I want to make sure she knows I’m always here as a resource and a friend!
Concerns/change: A concern that I have in the program right now deals a little with the election process. I am trying my best to not word this in a way that sounds controversial, but it is something that has been catching my attention. I think in this program we often face problems with having people that don’t do work or aren’t super reliable. While we make jokes about this and just brush it off I do believe that it harms our program a bit. It normalizes the pattern of people picking up the slack of others. I believe that this could be fixed within the process of elections or being more thorough about evaluations. Morty has expressed to us lately (sorry for the callout but it’s relevant) that she does not know why some of the people in the program are in this program. This is a valid concern, but it’s also one that can be controlled and is fixable.
Positive Comment: My positive comment goes to Colt. The past few months I have gotten to talk and bond with him more and I’ve genuinely enjoyed it. I believe that he has true qualities of a leader in his dedication and passion to the program. While we are different, I honestly relate to him in the things he struggles with in leadership. I think he has so much potential in this program and am honestly excited to see where high school takes him in general. After the night rally carols I also think he should seriously consider pursuing opera/classical singing in his future.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. I think lately I’ve been applying “The Beacon of Empowerment” into my life. With the past couple of events we have put on there has been a lot of involvement with clubs and other groups outside of leadership. I truly believe that lifting up and supporting other groups besides your own is important. It allows you to practice service and praise/recognition for those around you.
My Impact: I think my impact recently has a lot to do with my personal growth. The beginning months of junior year had not been my best but within the past couple of weeks I think I’ve truly been a lot happier. I think this relates to my impact in that I’ve been trying to connect with others more and check on them as well. Since I am in a better place with myself I’m more equipped to socialize and put myself out there. I’m dumping this all in my ASB report in some hope of getting the message out that it’s okay to have rough patches. The important part is that they don’t last forever and that you’re able to come out of them stronger than you were before. I hope my impact has been setting that kind of example for those around me.
Claire Morris: Junior Class President
January 2024
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: All of Janurary has been Winterfest centered. I worked with my class to complete what was necessary for our competitions like the gym poster, lemonade stand, and shopping cart. I was also nominated along with two of my officers to represent the juniors in Winterfest spirit which was super cool! Overall I’m really happy with our standing in the placement for the week, we came super close to beating the seniors which made things a little more exciting than usual! I would surely say for the juniors that Winterfest was successful. Aside from Winterfest being our main focus, the juniors have been working on professional work and planning for future events. As for the professional development world, I got my new headshot taken and found my mock interview “person” for this year's rounds. I’m excited because I got connected with her through my sister, so she lives in Amsterdam! It should be cool diving more into what graphic design really entails. I also completed my Elder Project for this year! It feels crazy to even say that I’m giving one but it’s given me a chance to look back on my years in this program. My presentation is completed and now I just need to spring my community service portion into action. The junior officers have slowly but surely been making prom progress. We have our theme and have gotten into contact with the decorator who will be helping us through the process. We can’t do much until the date actually gets closer but until then we’ve been doing all that we can. The officers also got put in charge of this year’s college reveal. Once it comes time to start the preparations for that we will hit the ground running! The next thing to tackle will be elections going into my senior year! I can’t believe my final year of applications and elections have come so soon. #bittersweet
Standing Committees: The standing committees I’m a part of are Balloon Crew and Mental Health Advocates. For the Winterfest rally, the Balloon Crew blew up balloons for each of the rails in the gym. We have hit rock bottom with our current tank so we had to switch to open a new one. As for the Mental Health Advocate, the full team has been published! The journal is completed and now posted on Amazon for purchase which is insanely cool considering how quickly it was done. With Elias and I’s role for the YMHDA, we are actually giving our very first public presentation tomorrow to the 7th and 8th grade classes at both Ripon Elementary and Parkview. Wish us luck!
Special Committees: The special committees I’m a part of are Coronation and College Reveal. I didn't have a role in the Winterfest Coronation process but I am always there to help with anything coronation related as I am the trainee. As for College Reveal, the junior officers just recently got given this as another event so we will roll with the changes! We have not begun the process yet but that will require some meetings with Morty.
Mentorship Evaluation: Evangeline and I are making more progress in our mentorship! We completed the homework for January which was creating a joint vision board. The two of us decided to go for a warm toned theme and incorporated lots of our favorite things and plans for 2024. I also watched Evangeline's performance as Aunt March in the RHS production of Little Women. I am so proud of her for all of the work that must have gone into preparing for the play and how naturally she portrayed her character on stage. She truly nailed her role and it was so fun watching her kill it! I am happy to hear she’s reapplying for the program because her presence makes a huge difference!
Concerns/change: My concern as of now is probably similar to that of many leadership kids, but it is regarding election season. No matter how silly it seems in retrospect, it is incredibly easy to get caught up in the election drama. People in the program are always on the edge of their seats to hear what others are running for and finding out if they will be going opposed or not. I feel that I trust whatever happens with next year's roles, but I just hope that the dynamic does not change for the worse in the class when the positions are revealed. Election season is just one of those times that you want everyone to get what they are aiming for!
Positive Comment: My positive comment for the month of January has to go to Alana Jones! I’ve always admired her creativity and ability to really take leadership. I think that her work in the drama club is so cool with her talent and all of her aspirations for her future in theater are amazing. Not to mention how much time and effort she is putting into our class headshots. They seriously look great and she is doing it all on her own which is insanely commendable.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. As of lately I think that I’ve been sticking with the principle of “Grow and Evolve with Change.” I think that there have been many instances this year where things have not gone entirely according to plan or I have had more on my plate than anticipated. I feel like as I’m getting older I’m really learning how to grapple sudden responsibilities and not get so overwhelmed when unexpected things come my way. I feel much more assured to handle any challenges I’m faced with at the current point in my life compared to other times.
My Impact: I’ve tried to make an impact on the program recently by being reliable. There has been a lot of stress circulating in our leadership environment lately and as a way to combat that I like to do self reflection. I would never want to contribute or be a source of someone else’s stress so in these tense moments I always like to analyze how I am doing with my job and whatever is needed of me at the moment and see if I’m fulfilling or if I can better fulfill those duties.
January 2024
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: All of Janurary has been Winterfest centered. I worked with my class to complete what was necessary for our competitions like the gym poster, lemonade stand, and shopping cart. I was also nominated along with two of my officers to represent the juniors in Winterfest spirit which was super cool! Overall I’m really happy with our standing in the placement for the week, we came super close to beating the seniors which made things a little more exciting than usual! I would surely say for the juniors that Winterfest was successful. Aside from Winterfest being our main focus, the juniors have been working on professional work and planning for future events. As for the professional development world, I got my new headshot taken and found my mock interview “person” for this year's rounds. I’m excited because I got connected with her through my sister, so she lives in Amsterdam! It should be cool diving more into what graphic design really entails. I also completed my Elder Project for this year! It feels crazy to even say that I’m giving one but it’s given me a chance to look back on my years in this program. My presentation is completed and now I just need to spring my community service portion into action. The junior officers have slowly but surely been making prom progress. We have our theme and have gotten into contact with the decorator who will be helping us through the process. We can’t do much until the date actually gets closer but until then we’ve been doing all that we can. The officers also got put in charge of this year’s college reveal. Once it comes time to start the preparations for that we will hit the ground running! The next thing to tackle will be elections going into my senior year! I can’t believe my final year of applications and elections have come so soon. #bittersweet
Standing Committees: The standing committees I’m a part of are Balloon Crew and Mental Health Advocates. For the Winterfest rally, the Balloon Crew blew up balloons for each of the rails in the gym. We have hit rock bottom with our current tank so we had to switch to open a new one. As for the Mental Health Advocate, the full team has been published! The journal is completed and now posted on Amazon for purchase which is insanely cool considering how quickly it was done. With Elias and I’s role for the YMHDA, we are actually giving our very first public presentation tomorrow to the 7th and 8th grade classes at both Ripon Elementary and Parkview. Wish us luck!
Special Committees: The special committees I’m a part of are Coronation and College Reveal. I didn't have a role in the Winterfest Coronation process but I am always there to help with anything coronation related as I am the trainee. As for College Reveal, the junior officers just recently got given this as another event so we will roll with the changes! We have not begun the process yet but that will require some meetings with Morty.
Mentorship Evaluation: Evangeline and I are making more progress in our mentorship! We completed the homework for January which was creating a joint vision board. The two of us decided to go for a warm toned theme and incorporated lots of our favorite things and plans for 2024. I also watched Evangeline's performance as Aunt March in the RHS production of Little Women. I am so proud of her for all of the work that must have gone into preparing for the play and how naturally she portrayed her character on stage. She truly nailed her role and it was so fun watching her kill it! I am happy to hear she’s reapplying for the program because her presence makes a huge difference!
Concerns/change: My concern as of now is probably similar to that of many leadership kids, but it is regarding election season. No matter how silly it seems in retrospect, it is incredibly easy to get caught up in the election drama. People in the program are always on the edge of their seats to hear what others are running for and finding out if they will be going opposed or not. I feel that I trust whatever happens with next year's roles, but I just hope that the dynamic does not change for the worse in the class when the positions are revealed. Election season is just one of those times that you want everyone to get what they are aiming for!
Positive Comment: My positive comment for the month of January has to go to Alana Jones! I’ve always admired her creativity and ability to really take leadership. I think that her work in the drama club is so cool with her talent and all of her aspirations for her future in theater are amazing. Not to mention how much time and effort she is putting into our class headshots. They seriously look great and she is doing it all on her own which is insanely commendable.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. As of lately I think that I’ve been sticking with the principle of “Grow and Evolve with Change.” I think that there have been many instances this year where things have not gone entirely according to plan or I have had more on my plate than anticipated. I feel like as I’m getting older I’m really learning how to grapple sudden responsibilities and not get so overwhelmed when unexpected things come my way. I feel much more assured to handle any challenges I’m faced with at the current point in my life compared to other times.
My Impact: I’ve tried to make an impact on the program recently by being reliable. There has been a lot of stress circulating in our leadership environment lately and as a way to combat that I like to do self reflection. I would never want to contribute or be a source of someone else’s stress so in these tense moments I always like to analyze how I am doing with my job and whatever is needed of me at the moment and see if I’m fulfilling or if I can better fulfill those duties.
Claire Morris: Junior Class President
Feb/Mar 2024
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: The past two months in this program have truthfully felt like a fever dream so I'm going to try to do this as chronologically as possible. February was off to a good start with ENCORE. I feel like it was definitely needed as it was nice to just chat with a lot of the people in the program outside of work and take a breath before the spring events. Following ASB elections, I participated in running for the class elections. It was a strange feeling doing that for the last time but I am proud of my campaign posters especially and think I went out with a bang. I feel confident in our senior roundup for next year and am really excited to see what that experience will hold. Following the theme of elections and applications, I also tried out to be a part of next year's Link Crew Program. I am happy to have the opportunity to continue meeting new students and helping out around campus. As for this year in Link Crew, I helped out with 8th Grade Day. Along with my balloon crew duties I assisted the rest of my group with watching over our kids and all that entailed. Regarding professional work I finished my cover letter and my resume and am excited to conduct my mock interview pretty soon. The main event from the past two months has definitely been The Challenge. I was the group lead for The Gift To Staff and Students. We decided on creating a staff gratitude breakfast that recognizes both them as a whole and as individuals. While I'm pretty excited for that to be executed, there is still much work to be done in preparation. I assisted where I could with The Gallery of the Arts and mainly focused on publicity, along with even submitting a few pieces myself! I've been helping where I can with College Reveal by request of Morty. To be honest most of the time that junior assistance is going to be needed will be the actual night of the event, but I have still attended some meetings and helped in different facets of the activity. It will be helpful to see the process as I will be involved with it next year. Along the topic of meetings, until the actual date arrives I will be having weekly meetings with Morty along with some of the seniors presenting at the Modesto Conference in April. I'm not quite sure what is expected of me in my role for this yet, but I am more than willing to take on the challenge and help in whatever way I'm needed. As for the Mental Health Advocate, Elias and I finished giving our presentations to the junior high students in the district. It has been so cool to talk to some of the incoming freshmen and connect with them on their worries, excitements, and curiosities about high school.
Standing Committees: The standing committees I’m a part of are Balloon Crew and Mental Health Advocates. Balloon crew made some bunches for the gym on 8th Grade Welcome Day in the morning of the event. We also have been helping out with the balloons for the monthly spirit bombs. As for the upcoming work tomorrow I will assist the seniors in blowing up balloons to hand out for College Reveal invites and will also help with the request for a giant balloon arch for the actual College Reveal night. As for The Mental Health Advocate, Elias and I have been quite busy. I must confess, we did drop out of the Youth Mental Health Development Academy as of last week. Due to our schedules always conflicting with the sessions and the miscommunication on both ends, we met with the directors of the program along with Mrs. Ross and Mrs. Stingle and made the decision to end our time there. While it was a choice that took a lot of discussion and thought, I believe it was right for the situation at hand. But this does not mean Elias and I will stop our work in presentations for the community! We have both found so much purpose in giving back this way and want to continue it through representing the Mental Health Advocate committee within the leadership program. In fact, as of yesterday Elias and I officially presented to all of the 8th graders (and most of the 7th graders) in the Ripon Elementary School District. It has been so fulfilling to give some of these kids the reassurance that I wish I had gotten going into high school and I'm glad to have influenced them in any way at all. I'm excited to see what the future holds for our next steps with this and am grateful to be working with someone who feels as passionate about community service as I do. And last but certainly not least, PROM! I am so incredibly excited for this event. We officially created our Instagram account for the event and released some of our first informational posts. We've met with Mayfield to work out what needs to be done to ensure that the night runs smoothly as possible and everything is on track so far. This past Monday we met with our decorator from Events 22 to visit the venue and get a lay out of what everything will look like. There have been some great renovations made to the area and we are in good hands as far as the weather and environmental circumstances go. As of right now we are staying on schedule with our publicity releases and need to place a PO for some extras that will make our event a little extra special. I'm really excited for the spring/summer events!
Special Committees: Committee work has been pretty busy the past couple months! I completed my shift for the Almond Blossom Carnival parking on the Sunday of the event. Recently, I signed up for Love Ripon along with the rest of the class to work on the storm drains. I was also a part of the publicity committee for The Gallery Of The Arts. In that role I made the publicity regarding art submissions, helped film the informational video with Gia and Emme, and also helped film the promotional video for the actual night of the event. Additionally to the gallery I was the team lead for wrapping our triangles, but my group made that job pretty easy. Lastly, the juniors were asked to help out with College Reveal so I've been attending any meetings regarding that and will continue to assist with work that needs to be done for the event. I also completed cleaning up the gym after the Dodgeball tournament on my assigned date.
Mentorship Evaluation: Evangeline and I worked together on the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team for the mentorship portion of The Challenge. I enjoyed doing this with her because it gave me a chance to focus on our relationship through the craziness of the week and it was interesting to talk to her about her perspective. I also completed the coloring book and wrote the letter to give to her. Writing the letter to her was meaningful for me because it allowed me a moment to reflect on the evolution of our relationship from the past months. It was also pretty nice to read her kind words to me. I'm so continuously proud of this girl and feel grateful for the times that we get to spend together! I cannot wait to see her finish off the year and return to grow into her new position for next year.
Concerns/change: Unfortunately I do have both concerns and changes to speak on! One of my biggest concerns is with the work ethic and attitude towards commitment in this program along with us as a collective practicing the things that we preach about. I have seen it happen to other people and unfortunately experienced it first hand recently, but there have been so many instances of people not pulling their weight and others having to make up for it. Even with that, those that are not doing their job in this program have lost the respect and humility to acknowledge the people that are making the events successful. A simple "thank you" or " I'm sorry" seem to be taboo phrases in our program at the moment. Even acknowledging text messages or notices at this point seems to be difficult for people. We shout about communication, yet we don't care to respond when something important is being shared. But to be honest the 5 Dysfunctions assignment also showed me that as a program we don't do a good job of acting out the things we learn about. (fear of conflict, holding others accountable, commitment, etc) Calling others out when they are not pulling their weight in this program is not a classroom norm and I believe it is beginning to fall back on us. I also believe that we criminally underappreciated a lot of hard working people in this program. In our haste to do as much as we possibly can, we speed past events and forget they even occurred. I believe that The Gallery of the Arts was severely underpraised for being such an amazing and successful event. That is just one out of the many that I think need to be highlighted. All of these problems include myself, so this whole rant was not meant to be a jab or blame game at other people. In this reflection of our class I've also noticed areas in which I am lacking in doing my job and holding myself accountable. But I do believe that recovering the standard of quality work and getting back to being a diligent class environment will be a group effort.
Positive Comment: My positive comment for this report undoubtedly goes to Miss Alizeh Ali. She was our group's mentor for The Challenge, but I would argue that I needed her mentorship the most. Throughout the duration of the project, she was diligent in anything asked of her and was always looking to do more or different ways she could be of help. I don't always get her obsession with "Love Is Blind" (or the fact that she wants me on the show) but even more so, I don't get how her undying drive to be purposeful and productive never falters. She was a huge support system for me anytime that things may have gone awry throughout the week and pretty much kept my head from spinning off my body. Additionally, I think that her community service portion of her Elder Project was so meaningful and absolutely necessary on our campus. I believe that this program should be counting our lucky stars to have Alizeh on our team.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. I believe that recently I've been completing the "Be impeccable" principle the most. There have definitely been some challenging moments in the past couple months that I feel have sparked some feelings of burnout in me. This is not new for me, but what is new is my attitude facing this emotion. I am trying to meet this with more perseverance than I have in the past. I want to finish off the year strong and carry the same desire to succeed at the end of my junior year in all that I do as I held in the beginning of the year.
My Impact: I've really been feeling my impact lately through the perspective and comments made by underclassmen/people younger than me. At ENCORE in one of our activities I said that something that keeps me going is the desire to be the role model that I once looked up to when I was younger. I admired a lot of people that were high schoolers at the age I am currently and knew I wanted to be like them when I was older. In doing the mental health presentations for junior high students at the elementary schools and interacting with some of the underclassmen in the program, I've kind of gotten to see myself fulfill that dream. Many students from the presentations sent such thoughtful emails, letters, and even Instagram DM's expressing that they were grateful for the topics I discussed. In the actual presentations I've gotten to answer so many questions and reassure so many students on things that I was worried about at their age. I did not expect to receive so much positivity and gratitude from the kids I talked to and feel so thankful for the opportunity of meeting them. I also got a lot of positive reinforcement from my old teachers in presenting at Colony Oak. It felt like a full circle moment reconnecting with some of the people who heavily influenced the girl that I have become and thanking them for their impact on my life. In leadership itself, I've also come to lead and be in charge of some of the events held in our program. It's been funny realizing that I am coming to the age and experience level to where I can take on those roles. In talking to underclassmen I've also become proud of myself for the reputation and legacy I am leaving behind. I hope to inspire others to be their truest selves and put their heart and soul into all they achieve.
Feb/Mar 2024
ASB Formal Report
Position Assessment: The past two months in this program have truthfully felt like a fever dream so I'm going to try to do this as chronologically as possible. February was off to a good start with ENCORE. I feel like it was definitely needed as it was nice to just chat with a lot of the people in the program outside of work and take a breath before the spring events. Following ASB elections, I participated in running for the class elections. It was a strange feeling doing that for the last time but I am proud of my campaign posters especially and think I went out with a bang. I feel confident in our senior roundup for next year and am really excited to see what that experience will hold. Following the theme of elections and applications, I also tried out to be a part of next year's Link Crew Program. I am happy to have the opportunity to continue meeting new students and helping out around campus. As for this year in Link Crew, I helped out with 8th Grade Day. Along with my balloon crew duties I assisted the rest of my group with watching over our kids and all that entailed. Regarding professional work I finished my cover letter and my resume and am excited to conduct my mock interview pretty soon. The main event from the past two months has definitely been The Challenge. I was the group lead for The Gift To Staff and Students. We decided on creating a staff gratitude breakfast that recognizes both them as a whole and as individuals. While I'm pretty excited for that to be executed, there is still much work to be done in preparation. I assisted where I could with The Gallery of the Arts and mainly focused on publicity, along with even submitting a few pieces myself! I've been helping where I can with College Reveal by request of Morty. To be honest most of the time that junior assistance is going to be needed will be the actual night of the event, but I have still attended some meetings and helped in different facets of the activity. It will be helpful to see the process as I will be involved with it next year. Along the topic of meetings, until the actual date arrives I will be having weekly meetings with Morty along with some of the seniors presenting at the Modesto Conference in April. I'm not quite sure what is expected of me in my role for this yet, but I am more than willing to take on the challenge and help in whatever way I'm needed. As for the Mental Health Advocate, Elias and I finished giving our presentations to the junior high students in the district. It has been so cool to talk to some of the incoming freshmen and connect with them on their worries, excitements, and curiosities about high school.
Standing Committees: The standing committees I’m a part of are Balloon Crew and Mental Health Advocates. Balloon crew made some bunches for the gym on 8th Grade Welcome Day in the morning of the event. We also have been helping out with the balloons for the monthly spirit bombs. As for the upcoming work tomorrow I will assist the seniors in blowing up balloons to hand out for College Reveal invites and will also help with the request for a giant balloon arch for the actual College Reveal night. As for The Mental Health Advocate, Elias and I have been quite busy. I must confess, we did drop out of the Youth Mental Health Development Academy as of last week. Due to our schedules always conflicting with the sessions and the miscommunication on both ends, we met with the directors of the program along with Mrs. Ross and Mrs. Stingle and made the decision to end our time there. While it was a choice that took a lot of discussion and thought, I believe it was right for the situation at hand. But this does not mean Elias and I will stop our work in presentations for the community! We have both found so much purpose in giving back this way and want to continue it through representing the Mental Health Advocate committee within the leadership program. In fact, as of yesterday Elias and I officially presented to all of the 8th graders (and most of the 7th graders) in the Ripon Elementary School District. It has been so fulfilling to give some of these kids the reassurance that I wish I had gotten going into high school and I'm glad to have influenced them in any way at all. I'm excited to see what the future holds for our next steps with this and am grateful to be working with someone who feels as passionate about community service as I do. And last but certainly not least, PROM! I am so incredibly excited for this event. We officially created our Instagram account for the event and released some of our first informational posts. We've met with Mayfield to work out what needs to be done to ensure that the night runs smoothly as possible and everything is on track so far. This past Monday we met with our decorator from Events 22 to visit the venue and get a lay out of what everything will look like. There have been some great renovations made to the area and we are in good hands as far as the weather and environmental circumstances go. As of right now we are staying on schedule with our publicity releases and need to place a PO for some extras that will make our event a little extra special. I'm really excited for the spring/summer events!
Special Committees: Committee work has been pretty busy the past couple months! I completed my shift for the Almond Blossom Carnival parking on the Sunday of the event. Recently, I signed up for Love Ripon along with the rest of the class to work on the storm drains. I was also a part of the publicity committee for The Gallery Of The Arts. In that role I made the publicity regarding art submissions, helped film the informational video with Gia and Emme, and also helped film the promotional video for the actual night of the event. Additionally to the gallery I was the team lead for wrapping our triangles, but my group made that job pretty easy. Lastly, the juniors were asked to help out with College Reveal so I've been attending any meetings regarding that and will continue to assist with work that needs to be done for the event. I also completed cleaning up the gym after the Dodgeball tournament on my assigned date.
Mentorship Evaluation: Evangeline and I worked together on the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team for the mentorship portion of The Challenge. I enjoyed doing this with her because it gave me a chance to focus on our relationship through the craziness of the week and it was interesting to talk to her about her perspective. I also completed the coloring book and wrote the letter to give to her. Writing the letter to her was meaningful for me because it allowed me a moment to reflect on the evolution of our relationship from the past months. It was also pretty nice to read her kind words to me. I'm so continuously proud of this girl and feel grateful for the times that we get to spend together! I cannot wait to see her finish off the year and return to grow into her new position for next year.
Concerns/change: Unfortunately I do have both concerns and changes to speak on! One of my biggest concerns is with the work ethic and attitude towards commitment in this program along with us as a collective practicing the things that we preach about. I have seen it happen to other people and unfortunately experienced it first hand recently, but there have been so many instances of people not pulling their weight and others having to make up for it. Even with that, those that are not doing their job in this program have lost the respect and humility to acknowledge the people that are making the events successful. A simple "thank you" or " I'm sorry" seem to be taboo phrases in our program at the moment. Even acknowledging text messages or notices at this point seems to be difficult for people. We shout about communication, yet we don't care to respond when something important is being shared. But to be honest the 5 Dysfunctions assignment also showed me that as a program we don't do a good job of acting out the things we learn about. (fear of conflict, holding others accountable, commitment, etc) Calling others out when they are not pulling their weight in this program is not a classroom norm and I believe it is beginning to fall back on us. I also believe that we criminally underappreciated a lot of hard working people in this program. In our haste to do as much as we possibly can, we speed past events and forget they even occurred. I believe that The Gallery of the Arts was severely underpraised for being such an amazing and successful event. That is just one out of the many that I think need to be highlighted. All of these problems include myself, so this whole rant was not meant to be a jab or blame game at other people. In this reflection of our class I've also noticed areas in which I am lacking in doing my job and holding myself accountable. But I do believe that recovering the standard of quality work and getting back to being a diligent class environment will be a group effort.
Positive Comment: My positive comment for this report undoubtedly goes to Miss Alizeh Ali. She was our group's mentor for The Challenge, but I would argue that I needed her mentorship the most. Throughout the duration of the project, she was diligent in anything asked of her and was always looking to do more or different ways she could be of help. I don't always get her obsession with "Love Is Blind" (or the fact that she wants me on the show) but even more so, I don't get how her undying drive to be purposeful and productive never falters. She was a huge support system for me anytime that things may have gone awry throughout the week and pretty much kept my head from spinning off my body. Additionally, I think that her community service portion of her Elder Project was so meaningful and absolutely necessary on our campus. I believe that this program should be counting our lucky stars to have Alizeh on our team.
Core Principles: Our core principles are Be impeccable, Your Puzzle Piece Matters, The Beacon of Empowerment, and Evolve and Grow with Change. I believe that recently I've been completing the "Be impeccable" principle the most. There have definitely been some challenging moments in the past couple months that I feel have sparked some feelings of burnout in me. This is not new for me, but what is new is my attitude facing this emotion. I am trying to meet this with more perseverance than I have in the past. I want to finish off the year strong and carry the same desire to succeed at the end of my junior year in all that I do as I held in the beginning of the year.
My Impact: I've really been feeling my impact lately through the perspective and comments made by underclassmen/people younger than me. At ENCORE in one of our activities I said that something that keeps me going is the desire to be the role model that I once looked up to when I was younger. I admired a lot of people that were high schoolers at the age I am currently and knew I wanted to be like them when I was older. In doing the mental health presentations for junior high students at the elementary schools and interacting with some of the underclassmen in the program, I've kind of gotten to see myself fulfill that dream. Many students from the presentations sent such thoughtful emails, letters, and even Instagram DM's expressing that they were grateful for the topics I discussed. In the actual presentations I've gotten to answer so many questions and reassure so many students on things that I was worried about at their age. I did not expect to receive so much positivity and gratitude from the kids I talked to and feel so thankful for the opportunity of meeting them. I also got a lot of positive reinforcement from my old teachers in presenting at Colony Oak. It felt like a full circle moment reconnecting with some of the people who heavily influenced the girl that I have become and thanking them for their impact on my life. In leadership itself, I've also come to lead and be in charge of some of the events held in our program. It's been funny realizing that I am coming to the age and experience level to where I can take on those roles. In talking to underclassmen I've also become proud of myself for the reputation and legacy I am leaving behind. I hope to inspire others to be their truest selves and put their heart and soul into all they achieve.