“I promise to be full of energy, and to be all ears next year,” newly-elected President Ryan Arrowsmith (‘23) told me. He prefaced this by saying that he didn’t make any promises earlier—in fear of not following through—but is planning on “total participation in school events,” as top priority throughout his presidency. 

 Ryan will be working with a team of other ASBC members that include Brooke Fitz-Cluster ‘23 (Vice President), Mia Bravo ‘24 (Secretary), Chase Landa ‘23 (Sports Representative), Natasha Mar ‘23 (Arts Representative), Ariston Oakes ‘23 (Treasurer), Joshua Lee ‘23 (Community Service Representative,) Nicola Xanthopoulos ‘23 (Spirit Representative), and each grade’s class president. 

In their speeches, each representative expressed what they hope to accomplish, how they envision next year for the Associated Student Body Council (ASBC), for the student body, and for themselves in their new roles. 

Vice President Brooke served as Spirit Representative this year and said that in order to create a more transparent ASBC, she will “continue to be the voice for students and make change happen.” Secretary Mia agreed with this, saying, “I plan on making meeting notes more open and available to the student body and creating more collaboration and transparency,” referring to ASBC’s once-a-cycle meetings. In a similar light, Spirit Representative Nicola introduced the idea of sending “a biweekly or monthly email updating students about exciting events on campus.” These different ways of publishing what ASBC has in store is a new approach aimed to include student dialogue. Service Representative Josh said that he would like to “get more involved with the student body and socialize through events.” 

Brooke also wants to provide new options of ice cream for fun Fridays. Treasurer Ariston said he would “also like to float the idea of having Bomb Pops as the fun-friday popsicles” but he understands that his “personal preference may not be that of everyone, even though it should be, as it is objectively the best popsicle option on the market.” 

Nicola understands the stress of being a Bishop’s student, but says that she understands that her “position allows [her] to try to make Bishop’s role in our lives more enjoyable.” She hopes this will translate into a higher attendance at spirit events, sports games, and other Bishop’s centered activities. As another means to increase student morale, Nicola said she wants to bring back “SPOINTS” or spirit points, which were popular in middle school. SPOINTS tracked which grade won games at assemblies, and, at the end of the year, the victor would get a prize. Josh also wants to find a solution to the trash problem on campus and wants “community service to be more enjoyable.”

 Ryan also said that he wants to incorporate “new all-school events and a new sense of fun to school.” He continued, “I think [these events] where different grades mix could be a really interesting solution.” Nicola said she also wants to have “more mingling activities between different grades [that] allows branching out to occur and gives students the opportunity to make meaningful relationships beyond their usual group of peers.” 

ASBC and Peer Support have begun to work together more but this year Brooke will also work as the cross-over person between the two and will “represent Peer Support on the ASBC board.” When asked about ways that Peer Support and ASBC are talking about mental health, Brooke said that they are “trying to coordinate as much student support as possible.” They will meet with teachers and Dean of Students Ms. Michelle Shea to talk about decreasing stress for finals week. Ryan said he believes that “by putting the individual student first, [ASBC] can create an environment that promotes positive changes to mental health issues on campus.” Both placed a large emphasis on mental health and well-being. 

Ryan said that “One thing I was adamant about during my campaign was bringing forth new energy and a new sense of fun to school.”

 Ariston had the same sort of approach. He reflected, “I have always said I will use this position in order to advocate within the Bishop’s ASBC for whatever our student population decides they want and need.” As treasurer, he hopes that he can use the ASBC budget to reflect the wants and needs of the student body.

Brooke said next year she is going to prioritize transparency, saying that she wants to “get more information out on all the new things happening and [what ASBC is] working on” by being more open to students about ASBC plans.

Hopefully this year is a year full of transparency, spirit, and new energy from the ASBC which will be mirrored by the student body!