Every year, ASB holds an election to elect recurring or new members to the cabinet. This year, Catherine Cheng and Aaron Helfstein fought for the ASB Cabinet President spot. The Cabinet president leads the ASB class and works closely with administration and students. Ultimately, Helfstein won for the second year in a row.

“ASB is a huge part of my life and something that I sink a lot of my time into. I have 6 years of ASB experience and genuinely care about the betterment of the school. As President, I want to promote a stronger social and emotional environment by emphasizing school connectedness. I want Oak Park to be the absolute best it can be,” Helfstein wrote.

Voting took place on Thursday, March 30, in students’ third-period classes. Those who ran for a position had the option to present a short video announcement before voting concluded. Cheng and Helfstein presented their one-minute video announcement, each stating why they should win cabinet president. Students vote on Google form which gets submitted to ASB later. Some cabinet members, including the vice president, cabinet secretary, school board representative and more, ran unopposed. 

“Some ASB candidates are unopposed – an example being myself. Since I am unopposed, individuals will not vote for me, but rather approve that I will be Cabinet Vice President. Cabinet members are voted on by the entire school, while class members are voted on by the particular grade they are running for,” Vice President Ella Homesley wrote.

Sridershani Anandraj, the cabinet secretary, also ran unopposed on March 30, and shared her goals and experience. 

“Having been in ASB for three years now, I have gained much experience. Through my experience, I have grown to understand all of the work that goes behind the school as a whole. My previous position as the site council representative has allowed me to gain insight on school issues, which we as a site council would plan to resolve. I am very enthusiastic about helping maintain our wonderful school. As a person I give my hundred percent in whatever I uptake and I hope to apply my work ethic for the betterment of our school as well,” Anandraj wrote. 

Some positions, like School Board Representative, work outside the realm of ASB and school grounds.

“School Board Rep is the student position on the OPUSD Board of Education. I attend the monthly board meetings alongside them, the superintendent, and other district officials. My job is to communicate the events at the high school at the meetings and to give my input on any issues on the board agenda through a student perspective. I think I’m a good candidate for this because when something bothers me, I pretty much refuse to quit until it gets fixed. I’m also a patient person, and these board meetings can go for very long hours late at night,” School Board Representative Tess Leong said.

As the 2023 ASB election comes to an end, the cabinet stands with Aaron Helfstein as President, Ella Homesely as Vice President, Sri Anandraj as Secretary, Kaela Chou as Treasurer, Tess Leong as School Board Representative and Florence Wang as MAC Representative.