As many of you have heard, ASB elections for class of 2028 are right around the corner. But the question many are wondering is who are the candidates in the election. But more importantly, who is running for President and Vice President?
But first, what is ASB? It’s talked around all over school and is a big deal when it comes to school dances, games, and events. But now more than ever, all you hear about is the ASB elections. “Who are you going to vote for?” “Did you hear what ____ wants to do if she/he wins?” It’s all you hear about these weeks. So let me break it down for you in simple terms. ASB stands for Associated Student Body. It is a club here in Lompoc High School that mainly focuses on helping the school improve and the students so they have a great highschool experience. It also helps students get involved in school and helps with many school events, such as dances, games, senior events, assemblies, and much more. But also ASB fundraises a lot in order to have these fun events. They take a huge part in our school and although not always recognised, they are what make our school fun and keep it thriving.
For our first candidate we have Bailey Jones. She is a very well known 9th grader who always has a smile on her face and will make you laugh when you’re with her. Jones is also part of the JV cheer team. At football games, you’ll see her amazing toe touches and hear her voice as she chants cheers. I had the opportunity of asking Bailey about her thoughts and plans of running for Vice President. She started off by saying, “Running for Vice President sort of gives me a weird and almost melancholy feeling since I was president at LVMS last year, but I know whoever wins the spot for President this year will do a tremendous job. But other than that I’m very excited!” She then added, “My plans as Vice President is to of course assist the President with as much as I possibly can, but also to really make sure the LHS students, more specifically the Class of 2028, has a great high school experience. And that’s us, students in Class of 2028, so we can have an amazing senior year!”
Our next candidate is Gary Jeffery. He is a 9th grader here in LHS. Around school, you can see him politely greeting everyone while wearing his signature suit and tie. He always has a smile on his face and is happy to help when he can. When I asked him how he feels about running for President and his plans if he wins, he said, “I think/feel like running for Freshman president has been one of the greatest choices I have made during my entire academic career. I decided to run for the office because I believed it was important for our class to raise as much money as possible so we can do the best events possible.” He then added, “I am also running for president because I want to make a positive impact and difference on the school community, and alongside that I am glad to have so much support from all the students around campus and be partnered with Bailey Jones who is running for Vice President.”
So now we know about our main candidates, Bailey Jones for Vice President and Gary Jeffery for President. But what about our other candidates for the other positions? What about the candidates that are not much talked about? Well, unlike these two positions where only one student is running, there is a position where there are two people running, and that position is secretary. The two candidates running are Jaklyn Stevenson and Ruby Zepeda. First off, Jaklyn Stevenson. She is a 9th grader here in LHS. She is a student athlete who is involved in Flag Football and WaterPolo. When I got the chance to ask her her thoughts and plans on running for candidacy, she said, “I’m Jaklyn Stevenson and how I feel about running for ASB secretary is pretty cool. I love everyone on the ASB team and get to work and collaborate with everyone. I also feel like running for office is a lot of responsibility that I’m willing to take on, I’m trying to make LHS the best for my best class of 2028. If I get elected Secretary, I would make sure everyone will have their own opinions and voice, I will also listen to all the freshmen for more feedback or plans that they would want to do! I would also make sure everything is fair. I’m also a big time sports fan. I play Flag Football and Waterpolo so I will also listen to our student athletes. Thank you so much and I know our class of 2028 will be the best year!”
Our second candidate running for secretary is Ruby Zepeda, who coincidentally is the writer of this article. Hi, I’m Ruby Zepeda and I’m running for secretary for Class of 2028. I am a student here at LHS as well as a cheerleader on the JV cheer team. You can see me cheering at the football games and around campus wearing my spiritwear. I’m a very happy person, so if you spot me on campus, I’m usually laughing or have a big smile on my face. When asking myself how I feel, my thoughts on running for secretary, and my plans if I win, I respond with this, “Running for secretary has been something I have been planning to do since I started middle school. I didn’t have the opportunity back then, but now that I’m able to run for candidacy, I’m taking the chance. I’m really thankful I have the opportunity to run for secretary and have big plans if I win. My plans are to not only help the President and Vice President raise as much money as we can so Class of 2028 are able to have fun activities, especially during our senior year, but also to have the students’ voices heard. I want to be the representation of students’ opinions, arguments, and thoughts. Bringing up to the table what the students think is one of the biggest plans I have. Many students don’t have the opportunity to share their thoughts and I want to be their voice. What makes the class of 2028 is the students, so I want them listened to. But I know whoever wins this position will do amazing things and activities!”
However, there’s another position where there’s two candidates running, and that is Treasurer. The two candidates are Blanca Vazquez and Neysha Diaz. First off, Neysha Diaz. She is a 9th grader here at LHS and is part of the Waterpolo Team. She’s also part of ASB and MECHA. When I got the opportunity to ask her her thoughts, feelings, and plans if she wins, she said, “Hi, I’m Neysha Diaz and I’m running for Class of 2028 treasurer. I’m feeling nervous, excited, and anxious about the results. I’m excited because if I do win, all the plans I have for our class will happen and I know we can make it a memorable high school experience. Some of my plans if I win are planning successful fundraisers in order to have amazing dances, events, and best of all, our senior trip!”
Our second candidate running for Treasurer is Blanca Vazquez. She is a 9th grade student at LHS. She has all honors classes and is seen around campus with a smile on her face. When I got the chance to interview her on her thoughts, feelings, and plans if she wins treasurer, she said, “For the class of 2028, I decided to be part of ASB and ran for candidate for treasurer. My name is Blanca Vazquez and I’m a freshman. My main thought in why I decided to run was because I wanted to be able to help with the freshman funds and use the money wisely on events or other things that students would actually like or appreciate.” She then said, “If I was chosen for Treasurer the first thing that I would’ve wanted to do was to first make a Google Form or get students opinions on what they think we should save forward to or what things would make them look more forward to events or school. Another reason I wanted to run for Treasurer is because I am in Honors classes. I thought that it was perfect for me to be able to oversee the budget we get from financial operations. I also thought that if I got this position I would be able to include more of the people opinions and maintain a established school economy. I was also looking forward to working with the rest of the people and help out as much as I can. I also wanted to be known for someone who helped out through the school year. After all these reasons, this was why I wanted to be Treasurer for the Lompoc High School and my curiosity led me to the idea.”
We also have our at-large representatives that are running for Class of 2028. What they do is help the ASB officers in their tasks and jobs, but also help with fundraising, sports events, dances, and mostly everything that ASB does. Our representatives are Kaiya Austin, Mia Campetelli, Kylee Swezea, Brynn Reyna, Itzel De Luna, Adrian Hernanadez, Bree Huyck, Harlow White, and Mackenzie Dylina.
On Friday, September 6, 2024, at around 2:30pm during 6th period, results were announced. Through the speaker system, it was announced that Gary Jeffery is President, Bailey Jones is Vice President, Ruby Zepeda is Secretary, Neysha Diaz is Treasurer, and our Representatives are Kaiya Austin, Mia Campetelli, Kylee Swezea, Brynn Reyna, Itzel De Luna, Adrian Hernanadez, Bree Huyck, Harlow White, Jaklyn Stevenson, Mackenzie Dylina, and Blanca Vazquez Rocha. It was a very intense race this year, especially for Treasurer and Secretary. These students will help create the best and most fun 4 years of high school for Class of 2028! But after much tenseness and eagerness, this is the Class of 2028’s officers and representatives!
