San Dimas High School’s 2023-2024 Executive Board

San Dimas High School’s annual election for class and executive board started this month and voting took place on the 21st. The competitive election made candidates Noa Berry and Natalia Lopez nervous as the days went by, putting up their posters and advocating their best to win. 

Berry, who ran for the Executive President position, has been involved with the student council since her fourth-grade year. Throughout middle school, she was also in ASB, was the freshman and sophomore Vice President, and is currently the President for the junior class. Berry is also President of the Environmental Awareness Club.

Berry has always wanted to be ASB President, and it has always been a massive goal for her. “As an elementary schooler, I ran for President. As a middle schooler, I ran for President, and now as a high school student, I am running again,” she states.

 Berry ran for President because she can be the best leader for the school; she strives to help promote positive campus culture and unite the school. She promised to promote a positive environment on campus through improved spirit. 

She also planned to improve the amount of fun quad activities during lunch.“I want large-scale community projects and activities rather than smaller groups,” she explains. Berry wants to encourage more activity in community service events. 

During the campaign, she felt a lot of anticipation and nervousness, but “I love both of my other competitors, and I will be super happy either way,” Berry states. To her, “wanting the best for the school and striving for big things for the betterment of the school” is what it means to be San Dimas High School’s President, she says. 

Lopez, who ran for executive vice president, has been in ASB for three years now but also holds other leadership positions. She is President of the Rotary Interact club, an international organization that focuses on Philanthropy through community service, as well as leadership positions in the STEM club, Science Olympiad, and Mathletes.

 From the beginning of her ASB career, Lopez has always admired the executive board and all their hard work. “Although I never had my eyes set on a certain position because I knew I would grow into the position and that I could not force myself into it,” she states. 

She ran for Vice President because she wanted to emphasize student involvement. Lopez explains, “Every year, it seems that the same niche groups or communities are highlighted and encouraged to participate in activities, ultimately leaving the rest of the students to become bystanders in their own high school experience.”

 She planned to change that since San Dimas High School has beautiful communities within itself, and Lopez wanted to spotlight those that have done so much hard work but have yet to get as much attention. Her ultimate promise was to hear the student’s voices, opinions, and preferences and consider them all to “curate an experience that can be enjoyed unanimously,” Lopez explains. 

Campaigning is difficult for every election with all the tension in the air. “I’ve learned that, in the end, it’s just a school election. That’s not to say it is not important, but it just means that there is no reason to lose sleep over it,” she says. With that mindset, Lopez kept the campaign lighthearted and knew that others would, too, if she enjoyed what she put up. 

San Dimas High School’s Executive President for the 2023-2024 school year is Beatrice See. She has been on the student council since elementary school and middle school. See has been in ASB for five years. “Ever since middle school, I discovered that I have a passion for leadership, and I knew that I wanted to continue being a leader throughout high school,” she explains. See has been thinking about running for President since her freshman and sophomore years, but since she was still new to the high school ASB environment, she was still trying to figure things out. 

Over time See looked up to the Executive Board Presidents and always learned from them. Now that she is on the Executive Board as Treasurer this year, she was able to observe how the position worked, truly what the responsibilities were, and even worked alongside the current Executive President, Jaiden Miranda. “This made me feel prepared to take on this position because I was  able to gain valuable experience that would help me take on the president position!” See states. 

She ran for President because she feels like she has learned a lot from her ASB experience and feels confident taking on the tasks and responsibilities that position has. She plans to amplify student input and has goals to lead the school with passion and determination, increase school spirit by leading by example, and satisfy the student body by providing fun and exciting activities that encourage all students to come to school and school events. See states, “I believe that all students deserve to have their opinion heard, and I want to change how we plan events so that we can involve more students in the process of it.” 

For her, the campaigning process was enjoyable. From the start, having to get fifty signatures to run was an excellent opportunity to meet new people; she had the chance to talk and become friends with so many people in the student body that she did not know before. Even creating cute campaign ads and videos was a super fun way to get her name out there while being entertaining. 

Being given the opportunity to lead the school by example and also being able to showcase that school can be a fun environment and place to be in with the right mindset and attitude is what being President means to See. She states, “I promise that I will give 110% effort in making next year memorable for all of us! And I hope to make you all proud!” 

Marissa Sandoval is the new 2023-2024 Executive Board Secretary. She has been in ASB for a year but has been involved in Girl Scouts since kindergarten, which gave her a ton of knowledge about leadership. 

Sandoval ran for Secretary because she wanted to gain a more significant role in ASB and give back to the school from a higher position. Having always looked up to our current Secretary, Isabella Trejos, Sandoval observed Trejos’s position and what she does for ASB, and Sandoval realized that she loves the position. “Once my heart was in it, I put my mind to it and decided to run for Executive Board Secretary,” she says. Being Secretary means that Sandoval will be in charge of communication involving the House of Representatives, and she will take many notes on what they do.

 She strongly believes that communication is key, and being Secretary allows her to prioritize communication for the student body to thrive. “As secretary, you are one of the main players who communicate with everyone to make sure all members know what is going on and what must be done, which I believe I have the skill set to do,” Sandoval states. She plans to help run ASB alongside the rest of the executive board, grow as a person and in her leadership career, and make sure the San Dimas High School students have another wonderful and memorable year. Sandoval ran unopposed, which to her, was insane. 

Sandoval still went through the fun process of campaigning, making posters, and promoting her name; it was an unexpectedly easier process since she ran unopposed. “I promise to do the best I can in my position to help the executive board, the school, the students, and overall just ensure everyone has a fantastic year,” she states.