The Spartan Forum staff completed an interview with the students running 2023 ASB elections to share some details about their candidacy. The following contains a brief bio and responses from each candidate.

ASB President

Candidates 

Arjun Madadi is a junior at Skyline running for ASB President. In his free time he plays the guitar, he goes to the gym and he volunteers on the weekends. He builds tiny homes for the North West Sound Foundation for the homeless people of Seattle, and also helps out at the National Museum of Service which brings service opportunities to youth around the world. Arjun has been involved in ASB for a while and is a strong leader in the Skyline community always striving to do more. .  

Landen Scott is also a junior at Skyline running for President. He is very involved in swimming, where he is a part of the Skyline varsity men’s swim team that just went to districts. He also participates in the mock trial team and recently won first place at regionals. This is Landens sixth year in ASB where he hopes to make a bigger impact on the students here at Skyline, “I just like being at Skyline, it’s been a good school for me.” 

Question – What ideals do you live by in your life? 

Arjun M – “The ideals I live by in my life are equity rather than equality… I believe everyone should have a fair chance and an equal opportunity to succeed in life.” 

Landen S – “ I really do think the golden rule is super applicable to anything in nature, I think what you put out into the universe, you get back. So I always try to put my best foot forward, always try to help others out, because I truly believe that if you help others then when you need it, people will come help you” “It’s important that we are kind to others, so they are kind to us back” 

Question – Why are you running for ASB Vice President? 

Arjun M. – “I’ve always wanted to be in leadership since I was young and I’ve always been interested in politics. When I found out there was an opportunity to get into ASB, I immediately took that opportunity and built my way up to the presidency.” 

Landen S. – “ I’ve been super involved in ASB, and as much as I’ve been involved with ASB at Skyline over the past three years and making a difference, I think there are things I want to implement. I just want to reiterate that we need to create a more inclusive culture at Skyline. I think that right now if you’re not the best of the best… I think you can sometimes get lost in the madness, but I think that you have to realize that your voice is still greatly important.” 

What makes you a good leader? 

Arjun M. – “I’m a peoples person, I love to build relationships with people and that’s I think what makes me a leader, before I give someone a task I meet them, I greet them, I evaluate their strengths, their limitations, and how we can give them the best position that fits their strengths, and how we can support them with their shortcomings. I’m also a really good communicator, so people shouldn’t have a problem saying “hey, I really can’t do this”, I’m really open, “how can we figure this out.” 

Landen S. – “ As a leader I’m really open which comes with both its strengths and weaknesses. I think constructive criticism is really helpful in building a better school community. However, at times, this does make things go a little bit slower because you have people giving feedback and then trying to implement it. But I think at the end of the day, implementing that constructive criticism is more important than the time spent doing it. “ 

Question – What is the most challenging part of this position? 

Arjun M. – “ How people will perceive me in ASB; ASB does a lot of things, that’s for sure, but a lot of students don’t know exactly what ASB does and that’s a challenge.” Something he wants to focus on telling students is what ASB is doing every month and for school spirit. 

Landen S. – “ So for president specifically the biggest thing you’re going to deal with is being able to represent everyone.” Landen want’s to create a safe space where students can talk to not only ASB but admin as well about concerns or problems they have. 

ASB Vice President 

Candidates 

Arushi Agarwal is a current sophomore at Skyline, outside of school she is part of two sustainability organizations where one is federal and one is state wide. Agarwal is also a dancer, singer and she plays an instrument. One of her greatest skills is her ability to connect with a lot of people, Agarwal mainly wants to focus on the mental health problems at Skyline. She has been really good at getting student voices heard whether that’s in district meetings or just in ASB in general. 

Ashley Butz is the only senior candidate running for vice president. Butz is a confident leader who’s gained her knowledge being involved in ASB the past two years and playing sports for over 10 years. Her older siblings have given her insight into what Skyline’s environment has been in years past. Butz plans on enhancing school participation through new advertising techniques and working with the unofficial instagram account of Skyline.

Archita Chopra is currently a sophomore running for ASB vice president. Chopra spends a lot of her time at her Taekwondo school where many other Skyline students attend. She teaches there and just recently received her second degree black belt. Chopra is also part of the Skyline cross country team where she has met a lot of good friends and has increased her connection with the student body. 

Question – What Ideals do you live by in your life? 

Arushi A – “ Honesty, I think especially in creating relationships with people, it’s really important to be honest. Overall, honesty helps you with everything.” 

Archita C – “ I feel like the biggest one for me is kindness, like just being genuinely sweet to people all the time, even if you have some conflict with them or you’re just different, that doesn’t really matter. You can always just be nice to people and again, you genuinely never know what’s going on in someone’s head.” 

Question: Why are you running in for ASB Vice President? 

Arushi A – “ I think Skyline can be a difficult experience for a lot of people, myself included. I feel like high school is like a part of our lives where it shouldn’t be that hard, like it should be a time where we are able to enjoy ourselves.” 

Ashley B- “When I was a freshmen I was not in ASB and my twin sister Hailey was in ASB and she felt like it really got her involved in the school and coming out of covid I was really excited to join the skyline community and I felt that if I joined ASB I felt like I could make more of an impact on the school,” Butz said. “Throughout my two years of ASB I really enjoyed leading committees and groups and I learned I could use these leadership skills in an executive position. I also saw things that I thought could change and I want to make that change.” 

Archita C – “ My older sibling and her friends have told me a lot of stories about Skyline and how it’s been honestly really stressful… Lot’s of anxiety and like not very good experiences for a lot of it (there were some amazing ones) but a lot of the time, the school environment had just been so negative. I just feel like it’s been generations of Skyline where people don’t want to be here, which sucks because we have some really amazing talented people here. My main goal is to just change that,” draining environment surrounding so many students. 

Question: How would you describe yourself as a leader?

Arushi A – “ I think leadership is ideas, and I know what I want to do. I think there’s a difference between getting the position and actually doing the things you said you were going to do.” (She did not answer this question well so maybe don’t put this anywhere) 

Archita C –  “ I always try my best to be inclusive and equitable as possible and honestly to be very open and have that clear communication and just the ability to follow through with what I want to do, because there are things that need to be done and I want to know what those things are and hear everyone’s opinions so it can be done… I want to make sure I’m hearing from everyone, rather than just implementing the policies that I think are best.” 

Ashley B  – “I’m the only incoming senior, that means I’ve seen skyline grow out of quarantine and out of hybrid and I’ve also had older siblings so I’ve known the culture before covid” Butz said, “I also play a sport so that teaches me to be a leader in so many different ways with confidence, energy, being loud, and working well with teams.”

How will you increase school participation here at Skyline?

Ashley Butz – “I want Skyline to have more consistent traditions, I want more activities outside of Skyline that are related to nonacademics” Butz said, “I also want skyline to be focused less on academics, as much as they are important. I think the community surrounding academics at Skyline can be toxic at times and its important to change the mindset around academics at Skyline.”

ASB Secretary Candidates 

Candidates 

Joannah Turner, a junior, is a driven and enthusiastic individual with a passion for leadership and service. Since a young age, she has been interested in participating in ASB and class council, running for class council in 5th grade and actively serving in ASB throughout her years in middle school, including a term as secretary in 8th grade. Her love for dance and music has taught her the importance of teamwork, communication, and discipline, which she applies to her leadership roles. Joannah’s unwavering motivation and dedication to making a difference in Skyline will make her a successful ASB secretary, as she looks forward to contributing to the betterment of her school community.

Ankkitha Vinesh, A current sophomore at Skyline, Ankkitha Vinesh shared with us a variety of her traits that would make her suitable for becoming the new Skyline secretary, she highlighted traits that included being a hard worker and enjoying working with other people. She also shared with us a couple hobbies she enjoyed such as writing. Vinesh has also been apart of ASB

Question: How should school spirit and culture be improved? What sets you apart from other candidate(s)?

Joannah T: “I think this school’s culture is different compared to other schools’, the pressure of doing well reduces school spirit and mental health. I think that ASB is doing its part by putting up nice messages and others things that people might think are cheesy, but if it helps at least a couple people then we are a step closer to creating a better environment for the students at skyline. I feel that despite the high expectations that students keep for themselves, we should put out the idea that its okay to not do everything perfectly. I think that if this kind of culture is instilled at Skyline its moral and spirit will improve.”

Question: What makes you a really good secretary for Skyline?

Ankkitha V – “I’m a hard worker, I’m determined, I really enjoy working with other people and getting to know them. I feel like I also do like to write and much of the job involves being able to follow the conversations and continue to scribe the meetings.”

Joannah T – “I would say that being secretary requires efficiency in writing but also listening which is sometimes overlooked. You need to be an active listener to be able to write down what others say and contribute to the conversation. I feel that from my years of experience I am able to do these things well and it sets me apart from others. I’m also very dedicated and don’t do ASB for the sake of things, rather because I enjoy it and that’s what really matters.”

ASB Treasurer Candidates 

Candidates 

Cat Count is a junior and currently an ASB officer. Last year she was the class council treasurer. Cat is also created and runs book club and works stage tech for some of Skyline’s theater production. She member of Skyline’s championship level cheerleading squad. 

Cat was unavailable for an interview due to a cheerleading competition. 

Mahi Wadha is a sophomore at Skyline. She enjoys singing with the school’s choir, dancing, exercising and going on walks. She is involved in many clubs and would like to help new clubs get help from ASB.

Question: What separates yourself from the other candidates?

Mahi W – “I’m really really passionate about the school. I love Skyline. I’m involved in ASB and in multiple clubs. I’m really passionate about the school, so in this position, I could help bring the spirit back by actually strengthening ASB and ASB spirit so that the school gets motivated. ASB are like the leaders of the school and if the leaders of the school are unmotivated then the student will also be unmotivated.”

Question: What would you like to see ASB focus their spending on? 

Mahi W – “There’re a lot of clubs that don’t [know how to fundraise]. I want to help all clubs get access to information from ASB and to know how to fundraise so they can have funds, and to help kickstart them at the beginning of the year with all the knowledge they need to thrive and survive.”

Director of Student Activities – 

Candidates 

Ashreta Vinesh is a Freshman at Skyline, going into her first year in ASB. Ashrita is running for the Director of Student Activities.  She enjoys swimming, reading, and playing music in her free time. 

Ronak Kothari is passionate about being the voice of the clubs throughout Skyline. A natural leader, Ronak was a boy scout for 8 years and now works as a voice mentor. He is committed to increasing promotion for every club at Skyline and changing the way students receive information about clubs and other school events. 

Question: How would you influence club participation and support? 

Ashreta V – “I notice a lot of clubs don’t get the recognition they deserve, especially the really tiny clubs. So I want to help bring those clubs to light because some of them are really good and they don’t get enough credit for it. To do this, I could try to promote it on social media and if it’s in my power I could get some underrated clubs on the bulletin board.”

Ronak K– “So, there are a few ways the biggest one is increasing promotion, we dedicate one out of many days just for promotion. However I feel like there are so many things we could do. I actually have a few ideas on how I’m going to implement these changes. First of all have a social media for clubs in general…  ….The other one is through aggressive word of mouth, the last one is the poster in the cafeteria with the dates for events and i was thinking about making an online version which we could use to have more up to date information.”

Question: What separates you from other candidates?

Ashreta V – : “I won’t let my personal biases get the best of me, for example if someone I generally dislike is trying to start a club, I won’t let that stop me from helping them because that would be unfair.”  

Ronak K – I am interested in highlighting opportunities besides core curriculums, the lack of promotion, and engagement of students.