The 2015-2016 BCCHS ASB (associated student body) team pumped up the student body and revamped school spirit.  The students involved in ASB made it their duty to to take charge of all social events for the school year. The student led organization made the 2015-2016 year a memorable one!

ASB’s goal was to enhance school spirit and make fun times for all. The following events were organized and planned by ASB members this past year:

Each student in ASB holds a specific role and responsibilities. Jennifer Deras is a senior who is a part of the ASB team.  Her role as vice-president calls for her to “overlook the different committees in the class in order to make the planning process for events more efficient.” She explained how she wanted to make a difference in the school and be able to express the voice of her peers. Daniel Alvarez, another ASB member said,”My specific role in ASB is being a part of the Special Activities committee. What my team and I do is plan lunch time activities and games. My team and I have created many fun games. For instance, for Greek Week, Special Activities planned and orchestrated the lunch games, which were a big success! Teachers and students were able to connect and take part in school spirit!”

Alvarez and Deras joined ASB for many reasons. Alvarez said, “I joined ASB to get more involved with school. Before ASB, my daily routine was to wake up early in the morning and go to school; then, once school was over, go straight back home. It felt boring to come to school; however, ASB helped me get involved and to be excited to attend school. I also wanted to belong to something great, and say, ‘yeah, I’m a part of that!'” Deras also shared her reasons for joining. “I believed I could make a difference in our school as whole. I wanted to make our school a more welcoming and fun place for all students.”

Students that are in ASB participate in planning school events on a daily basis. When asked what’s their favorite event they have participated in planning, Alvarez answered, “My favorite event that I have participated in planning was the lunch games for Greek Week. The whole point of our activities is to bring students together, but we really wanted to have our teachers get involved as well. So we did and we got our teachers to play against students and it built a bond and even more school spirit.” On the other hand, Deras said, “My favorite event that we planned was the Aloha Dance. It was a great feeling seeing our student body having the fun that they had. It was the first successful event of the year, which encouraged us to plan more events.”

ASB is a fun class to join and opens students up to new high school experiences. Alvarez explained,”My favorite part about ASB is being able to see our students enjoy coming to school and having school spirit. Something we wanted to do was bring school spirit back to Birmingham–not only to students, but also to teachers and administrators. ASB has done an excellent job in doing just that and I am proud to say that I’m part of ASB in special activities!” Deras went on to say, “My favorite part about ASB is seeing the outcome after planning the event and seeing the hard work we’ve done and how it’s paid off by seeing the student body having a good time.” Even though Alvarez admits that ASB is a lot to handle at times, he uses the stress as motivation to succeed. An inspirational quote that keeps him going was stated by Eric Thomas (motivational speaker). “Eric Thomas once said, ‘If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breath then you will be successful.’”

Helen Umana is yet another BCCHS student who loves taking part in ASB planning and organizing. She is part of the Clubs Committee and is responsible for keeping track of all school clubs, holding club rush, and the putting together of all food fests along with other committee members.  Aside from the planning and constant pressure that the ASB students are under, Umana admitted that is it all worthwhile. She stated that, “everyone in ASB is family. When one committee or student asks for help, no one hesitates to lend a hand. We are all hard-working and love creating events together in hopes for a great outcome.” The entire student council seems to get along very well and also know how to take care of business! The many events that have taken place on campus were considered great successes and the BCCHS student body has the ASB team to thank for that!

Ivan Salinas is another senior who is famous for his disk jockey position in the ASB team. Although the organization is student led, Ms. Rubinger serves as the lead teacher. Salinas expressed a few thoughts on Ms. Rubinger’s involvement. “Ms. Rubinger always works hand-in-hand with the Executive Board of ASB. This class has become more than just a class to promote school spirit, it is also a class that teaches its students business-like situations and that’s where Ms. Rubinger mainly steps in, showing us the business side of ASB: from following school protocol to filling out paperwork, marketing, and of course to check that we are doing our work.” Umana also shared her opinion on Ms. Rubinger and the ASB family. She explained how “Ms.Rubinger is the glue that holds everything together. She pushes us to exceed our limits and keeps us focused on the goal we are trying to tackle. Her main job is to make sure no one slacks off and that every event is better than the last.” Ms. Rubinger is definitely a teacher that is well appreciated, not to mention that she has been awarded Teacher of the Year for the current school year.

Ms. Rubinger and the ASB team have been a great help to the students, faculty, and staff at BCCHS. Thanks to ASB, the 2015-2016 school year was filled with fun and memorable events. From the Homecoming Dance to the Valentine’s Day Lunch Rally, the events put on by ASB are greatly appreciated and were enjoyed by all in the BCCHS family. Thank you ASB for making this school year one for the books!