[divider]Recognizing black history[/divider]

Throughout February, ASB highlighted influential Black historical figures for Black History Month on its Instagram account, @palyasb.

President of Black Student Union club Maia Johnson said she thought ASB’s Black History Month Instagram posts were informative, but she wishes ASB had collaborated with BSU more.

“I don’t think they made an effort to include Black students, but seeing the posts was a nice surprise, showing that they don’t need to be pushed by Black students to make something like that,” Johnson said. 

[divider]Prom planning underway[/divider]

Working around COVID-19 restrictions and budget constraints, ASB has begun planning prom.

In a YouTube video released in late January, ASB announced prom will be held on May 14 at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

ASB President Johannah Seah said ASB wanted to reveal the prom location at a school rally, but the plan got canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Nevertheless, Seah said she is happy the announcement was exciting.

“The Prom Reveal Committee filmed a three-minute prom reveal video as well as a bunch of accompanying videos counting down the days until the reveal to help build suspense,” Seah said.

Junior Sophie Tu said she liked how ASB revealed prom because it felt very inclusive but also mysterious.

“It just felt like something everyone could participate in,” Tu said. “I like how (the video) had people talking to each other and asking what they think prom is about.”

Seah also said while ASB is still developing the theme, activities and logistics of prom, its primary focus is to make the event as accessible as possible to all upperclassmen.

“We’re trying to figure out how to make prom prices as low as we can,” Seah said. “Everything is just so expensive with bus prices and everything.”

[divider]Changes to Love Week[/divider]

In addition to the Prom reveal rally getting called off due to rising cases of the Omicron variant, Seah said Love Week’s Matchomatics was also called off due to COVID-19 concerns. Matchomatics is an activity where students fill out a quiz and then get matched with other students in the school who have similar answers, showing their compatibility.

Because administration canceled Matchomatics, Seah said ASB had to think outside the box for this year’s Love Week, which occurred during the first full week of February.

“We had to be a bit more creative and think of other ways to bring more fun to Love Week,” Seah said. “We have some new events such as mural making where people can get paper hearts and write something on them and then an ASB member compiles them into a mural.”

While Love Week looked different this year, Seah said she is glad ASB could carry on the tradition because of how important it is to Paly students.

“It’s a very supportive and encouraging event that spreads a lot of love and happiness,” Seah said. “It’s a little more chill than Spirit Week, but it’s still a nice way to have an involved week of activities.”

[divider]Future plans in the works[/divider]

Though COVID-19 restrictions are lifting, Seah said ASB has to think about the best ways to use its limited funds for the remainder of the school year.

“Because we had so many activities in the beginning of the school year, we have a little less money as opposed to the first half of the school year,” Seah said. “We just have to figure out the best way to allocate that money.”

Seah said most of ASB’s budget will go towards making Prom as special as possible, but it still hopes to add budget-friendly events.

“Second semester events are definitely a little bit more low-key, as we’re really focused on prom,” Seah said. “We’re probably going to have more chill and low-level events as opposed to large rallies.”