We appreciate how ASB has responded to our recommendations; since our last update on ASB, they have held transparent forums opening themselves and Principal Mark Mead to student opinions. In other instances, ASB informed students of the implications of district reconfiguration and publicized a school safety informational meeting with representatives from the BHPD.
ASB has taken a step in the right direction, but the student body is still snoozing off. Not enough students attended these meetings; they barely filled up the first few rows. When it came to their immediate security needs and concerns, students turned out in droves to the BHPD meeting. But when discussing the more far-reaching, existential issue of reconfiguration, which would not directly, but still greatly impact students now and generations to come, only a handful of students turned out.
As students, we are responsible to care about our community and take an interest in the decisions that affect our district.
How can we expect ASB to fulfill its civic duties to the school body without getting intel from the students it is supposed to represent? Without our input or concern in school matters, there is no purpose in them scheduling forums or sending out polls. ASB cannot serve as the student voice if the students themselves are not providing one.
We consistently hear about the evident problem regarding school spirit. However, instead of initiative, there are only complaints. We should not need to attend mandatory assemblies to express school spirit; it should be done on our own accord. The school walkout is a good start, but we should not wait for the administration to sanction and schedule a specific amount of time during school to take action. Gun violence was effective at starting a movement among students, but we need to continue this activist momentum.
Yes, our campus has changed. However, the biggest change has been within student sentiment toward the school. The truth is: there is a lack of care for Beverly. Students should want to stay at school. Students should want to hang out at lunch time. Students should want to go to school events, regardless of incentives like extra credit and pizza. However, that is simply just not the case.
School spirit is a self-propelling cycle. As more students attend more events, they become more engaging. The more engaging they are, the more students will come. At the moment, the wheel is broken. ASB is holding spirit events, but very few are showing up. As a result, the events flop.
We hope that ASB continues in their efforts, whether they are preaching to the choir or to an empty pulpit. So, we thank you, ASB. Don’t think that your efforts go unnoticed. That commitment to school spirit and democratic doings is infectious, and hopefully will soon catch on within the student body.