Student Government

ASB Officer Statements

by Ryan Park

Congratulations To Our New ASB Officers!

     Congratulations to ASB’s 2022-2023 Officers! We look forward to all the events the Associated Student Body of the Science Academy has in store for our school community!

High School ASB

President: Zahra R.

Vice-President: Jasper M.

Secretary: Esther C.

Treasurer: Seoyoon L.

Historian: Jenna L.

Middle School ASB

President: Erin Y.

Vice-President: Drew T.

Secretary: Ryan P.

Treasurer: Stella K.

Historian: Ethan K.

Class Representatives

12th Grade: Lauren P., Irene J., Paul Gabriel C.

11th Grade: Jared Y., Skylar R., Natalie E.

10th Grade: Lelu M., Raymond C., Suren G.

9th Grade: Saket P., Emily G., Nikhil A.

8th Grade: Kiahn L., Timothy L., Dani T.

7th Grade: Noah H., Kayla L., Jordan R.

6th Grade: Graham T., Maleeya M., Emma S., Ilkay K.

Commissioners 

Club: Zachary M., Muaz R.

Appreciation: Katie S., Haon K.

Art/Publicity: Ava S., Charis K.

Activity: Daniel S., Sena H.

Dance: Ryan V., Medha P.

Service: Owen R.,  Ryan S.

Athletics: Jacob Y., Zachary R.

Statement from Zahra R., ASB High School President:

     As the ASB Student Body President of the Science Academy STEM Magnet, I am excited by the initiatives we are implementing to build a strong, active, and thriving student community. Our students at the Science Academy are committed to giving back to our local communities and therefore we are enacting several programs such as Hope for the Homeless and a Veteran’s Drive, among others. For our Science Academy students, ASB has a calendar full of fun and enrichment-oriented activities for the entire school year. Some of these activities include: supporting our 40+ clubs in their membership drives, fundraising efforts, and communications, as well as executing fun activities such as Homecoming, Movie Nights, Pi Day Festival, and more.  I am dedicated to making our student body our primary focus and highlighting their accomplishments and incredibly creative abilities. Additionally, it is important to note that our students are still dealing with the ramifications of the pandemic and facing the changing academic environment of today. I am proud to say that this year I am launching the INSPIRE Peer-to-Peer mentoring program where students will form networking circles with other students in the school to help bolster a spirit of community, in addition to providing insight into academic and social life at our school. As I enter my 5th year of ASB, I hope to continue to bring student voices to the forefront so we can make changes for the better at our school and create a positive effect on the world as we continue to give back to our community. I’m looking forward to an amazing and memorable school year!

Statement from Erin Y., ASB Middle School President:

     Hello, Science Academy! My name is Erin and I am this year’s middle school president. As my second year in ASB, I am looking forward to building upon what we accomplished last year and make this year even better. My main goal as president is to be open-minded toward ideas and suggestions, as it is essential to listen to our student body. With the help of our commissioners, grade representatives, and officers, we have hosted many successful events such as Club Rush, Movie Night, and Spirit Week in less than 10 weeks! I am appreciative of the chance to be in ASB again and will exert all effort to not only carry out this duty but also to help make this school year unforgettable!

Statement from Jasper M., ASB Highschool School Vice President:

     As Vice President, I want to be the voice of the students. I will make sure your thoughts and opinions are heard throughout the entire ASB. After a shaky last year, I want to reunite everyone again so we can feel stronger as a community. I promise to make sure clubs can have their own fundraisers and events with the support of ASB. Finally, I want to do my best to make decisions and events that would benefit the entire Science Academy community. I look forward to the excitement to come!

Statement from Drew T., ASB Middle School Vice President:

     Hello, everyone! My goal is to help and support any student or staff at our school. To do this, I will help anyone with completing their goal – just let me know how I can help. I would also like to make this school a more entertaining, enjoyable place by creating fun events or just a simple joke of the day. If anyone has ideas or concerns, do not hesitate to reach out to me or message me on the S.A. Student Body Outreach Schoology Group. I look forward to helping everyone have  a great school year!!

Congratulations our new ASB Officers!

High School ASB:

President: Melissa Mouchamel (12th)

Vice President: Scott Oberholtzer (12th)

Secretary: Rachel Lee (12th)

Treasurer: Gautam Gupta (12th)

Historian: Emily Corona (12th)

Class Representatives:

12th Grade: Michael Marenge, Ryan Dowling

11th Grade: Zach Read, Mary Sarukhanyan

10th Grade: Zahra Reaves, Natalie Epshstein

9th Grade: Zachary Miller, Katie Shin

8th Grade: Alex Rostomyan, Hailey Choi

7th Grade: Erin Youn, Ethan De Guzman, Xander Kromnick

6th Grade: Irene Lee, Eric Chung

Statement from Melissa Mouchamel, ASB High School President: I am incredibly excited to take on the role of President this year. Last year was a difficult challenge for all students; our completely virtual learning environment was far from ideal. I look forward to taking advantage of the return to in-person learning in order to make all of the events we couldn’t have before come to life. So far, all of our Science Academy officers and representatives have worked to organize clubs more efficiently, host several events such as a Spirit Week and our Middle School and High School dances, and more. These events are only the beginning of our journey. I hope to implement more creative contests, fundraisers, Spirit Days, and ultimately a Talent Show for students to showcase their unique skills. As I continue my third year as a part of ASB, I am prepared to use the knowledge I have gained to represent the voices of the Science Academy’s student body to the best of my ability. At the end of the day, the most important part of my position is making sure that the unique voices of our students are heard. I am grateful for this opportunity and will do everything in my power to not only fulfill this responsibility, but to make this a memorable school year for everyone.

Statement from Scott Oberholtzer, ASB High School Vice President: As Vice President, my largest responsibility is in the field of clubs, working alongside Ms. Kincaid and our Club Manager, Gautam Gupta, to process club applications and approvals, along with holding Club Rush to inform students about all of the new and continuing clubs we have available. We have more events and changes planned for the future to make everything about clubs as simple and streamlined as possible both for club members and organizers.

Being a member of the Associative Student Body, a large part of my job is sufficiently representing the students of Science Academy High School. I know that every decision I make is on behalf of the entire school, and as such, I am working first and foremost on behalf of the students. Everything I have done in my term so far has been with the wants and needs of the students at the forefront, and I will be keeping this as a constant throughout the year. I look forward to continuing assisting the school in whatever way I can and being the best Vice President I can be. 

Statement from Andrew Bao, ASB Middle School President: Hello everyone! I would like to congratulate all of the elected officers, I look forward to serving as the Science Academy Middle School President and to work together as a team to represent this school. Also, thank you to everyone who voted for me – I’ll do my best to make this year as good as possible coming back from COVID. Also keeping my promise, if anyone has any concerns, opinions, or suggestions, please let me know! I’ll be happy to listen and take everything into consideration. After all, getting feedback can help us improve the student body.

Statement from Jasper Mejia, ASB Middle School Vice President: My goal as Vice President for the Middle School is to help re-connect our middle school student body and build our school community by planning fun activities for all middle school students. I also want to be the voice for students, listening to their suggestions and using those suggestions to create a positive school environment. This year will be full of fun memories!

ASB Members on Changes They Would Like To See In 2021-2022

By Scott Oberholtzer, Sarah Lane, and Emily Corona

As the year comes to a close once more, we look again to the future to see what is next. The 2020-2021 Science Academy Associated Student Body, though it has made great changes to the school environment, including club sign-ups and adding new events, still has wishes they hope can be addressed by next year’s ASB members.

School president, Jaden Penhauskashi, when asked about what he hopes to see changed in the school, shared this:

“My hope is that next year, it will be much easier to run both spirit events and fundraisers, and that being in person will facilitate much greater participation.  I would say that I look the most forward to having certain things we previously took for granted like Mr. Lauchu as Santa Claus or even watching a mock Science Bowl competition! I am confident that no matter the challenges ASB faces next year as our school reverts to in-person, they will rise to the occasion and make the school greater than it ever has been.”

The ASB as a whole is excitedly anticipating the coming fall school year when we can get back to in-person fundraisers and events, and possibly rekindle some former school-wide hits, like the Teachers v. Students Science Bowl and the Pi Day Festivities. Jaden expresses the desire of all members of the ASB and the student body when he explains his wishes to regain some sense of normalcy for school events.  

Rachel Lee, ASB secretary, responded that:

“The one thing I would say is having more participation from our grade representatives. There are a few students that give a lot of input, but it would be nice to hear what everyone has to say. I think part of it is to find ways to make it less intimidating for them to share their ideas and hopefully when we go back to school, it would be easier for the ASB officers to communicate with the grade reps!”

Encouraging participation from grade representatives allows for the general student body to better communicate with ASB members, and Rachel highlights this in her statement. Hopefully, with the coming year, representatives will have a larger presence in the ASB while in in-person club meetings. In-person meetings could lessen the intimidation reps seem to face, as described by Rachel, in the virtual meetings. 

Vice President Thomas Kim, when discussing upcoming shifts in the student body, mentions that:

“Better communication and leadership skills for both ASB officers and representatives is something that I hope will change for next year’s ASB. Additionally, ASB has to become more independent and more smoothly run by the officers and the representatives; we need to make everything much more elegant and timed, rather than choppy. Lastly, we as ASB need to find a way to make our activities and works more spread across the school, building the school’s culture, and most importantly, a community.”

Thomas’ focus as Vice President largely revolves around club management and creation, a job that requires constant communication with officers, especially the President. As such, he is the first to know when communication is a difficulty, and when intervention needs to be made. Communication issues will hopefully be a topic of resolution for next year’s cabinet, allowing for a smoother and more efficient overall Student Body.

Overall, it appears that the upcoming ASB will have big shoes to fill, as they have many different topics and issues to address within the 2021-2022 cycle of the Student Body. Make sure to vote in all upcoming elections, readers, as you can help to make the right choice for The Science Academy STEM Magnet’s future!

Congratulations To Our New ASB Officers

From left to right: Elliot Lopez, Ellen Kozlov, Gillian Nail, Jaden Penhaskashi, Scott Oberholtzer

Congratulations to our new 2019-2020 ASB officers!

Jaden Penhaskashi – President

Elliot Lopez – Vice President

Scott Oberholtzer – Secretary

Ellen Kozlov – Treasurer

Historian – Gillian Nail

Class Representatives:

6th Grade: Kieron Lyons and Harrison Reisner
7th Grade: Suren Grigorian and Daniel Svediani
8th Grade: Joseph Kim and Lily Louis
9th Grade: Lucas Wein and Alexander Ashrafi
10th Grade: Melissa Mouchamel and Vincent Lee

Statement from Jaden Penhaskashi:

As the new Science Academy President, many students reasonably expect a lot from me, due to the high bar our previous President, Lorelei Santa Maria, set. Although I would like to make many improvements to our already wonderful school, as the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” My first order of business will be to continue all the amazing events put into place by our previous ASB, with some additions made in order to increase both school spirit and student involvement.

I will also prioritize finding a way to get more student feedback and increase the communication between ASB members and the general student body. Last year, there was an active tutoring program where older students helped many students who needed academic support. This year, however, that program has begun to slowly fade due to conflicting schedules of high school students. I plan on working with the school administration towards a solution. Finally, as a Science Academy high schooler, I know that many people in 9th and 10th grade feel that the school is treating both high school and middle school students as being the same. I would like to discuss with the ASB different ways to give high schoolers more privileges than they have at the moment.

I look forward to working with both ASB members and my fellow students towards improving our school, one step at a time! If you currently have any concerns or ideas on how to improve our school, please email me at jpenhaska0001@mymail.lausd.net. I would love to hear your feedback!