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Tara Vatandoust

Portola High’s ASB class is fully finalized for the 2022-2023 school year, comprising students from all grade levels and providing representation for many groups on campus.

ASB officially announced appointed position results on May 9 after a two-step application process and interview panel with ASB adviser Emily Sheridan and the current ASB executive board. 

Appointed students are junior Devin Daniel (social media), junior Xasive Espinosa (publicity), junior Kiana Fan (publicity), freshman Justin Hwang (staff liaison), junior Caroline Kim (secretary), sophomore Skyller Liu (clubs commissioner), junior Acelyn Nguyen (treasurer), sophomore Kate Niho (fine arts commissioner), junior Saif Siddiqui (audio & tech), sophomore Cindy Tao (publicity), junior Charlie Tonelli (service project commissioner), sophomore Makena Wong (activities commissioner) and junior Jadyn Zdanavage (publicity).

“I wanted to run to get more experience in leadership while also advocating for something I love,” Niho said. “I hope to bring a new appreciation for the arts that ideally parallels the one I have. Also, I hope to match everyone’s level of high energy and school spirit.”

All prospective applicants submitted recommendations from two of their teachers and a potential job-specific project they would implement in their role, according to Sheridan. These projects were graded without looking at the names of the applicants, with the top two-to-three candidates per role chosen to move forward in the process.

“In the projects, we look for three things: professionalism – does it look nice, effectiveness – does it accomplish the goal it’s trying to accomplish, and creativity – is it something new that we haven’t seen before,” Sheridan said.

After the judges chose the finalists for the projects, they invited the top candidates to a job-specific interview with Sheridan and the previous holder of the position, according to Niho. This interview helped construct the next ASB class and allowed for the panelists to get to know applicants better, according to Sheridan.

“We wanted to make sure that the people we were accepting were spirited, were hyped, and they were confident in themselves,” newly-elected ASB vice president and sophomore Arjit Singh said. “They were organized, and they had the qualities that are needed in a leader.”

Now that ASB has constructed their full ASB class, they can begin preparing for activities for the following school year, according to Niho.