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Abilene High senior class officers are old
hands at job
By BILL WHITAKER
If anyone's interested in academic history in the making, you
can find it among the senior class officers at Abilene High.
Complain all you want about incumbency, the Eagles class of
'98 has elected the same six class officers all four years.
Abilene High associate principal Melody Roper says her research
indicates this is the only slate of class officers in campus history
to run and be elected all four years of high school, possibly
in the district.
"The beautiful part for me has been watching them grow,"
she said Thursday of students she has counseled all through high
school and, in some cases, even earlier. "Today it's kind
of the reverse of the way it was when they started.
"Now, they pretty much run things."
Overseeing and representing their class all of these years
has been Ahmad Brooks, class president; Lenecia Bowens, vice president;
Annalee Luttrell, treasurer; Stephanie Stephens, secretary; and
Craig Thomson and Michelle Martin, reporters.
And, yes, they've held the same positions throughout high school.
Born politicians, it seems.
LOCK 'EM UP
That's not to say the six have not had some tough lessons about
political entrenchment. Lenecia, 17, says when the officers ran
for their fourth and final year, some found themselves attacked
simply because they had held office so long.
"Everybody but Stephanie and Annalee had someone running
against them," she said, "and it was like, 'Let's get
'em outta there, they never do anything.' And you'd think to yourself
how you've been in there three years and some of them have never
paid any attention to anything you've done.
"All they know is you get out of class and go to an office."
Maybe so, but enough students voting at Abilene High were satisfied,
at least to the point of returning the incumbents to class positions
for their final year. In doing so, campus history was made.
"It was such a privilege the first year we did it and
we all got along so well with each other, we thought it would
be fun to run all four years," Annalee said of the group.
"I mean, I had always planned to run for it all four years.
I thought it was a great opportunity to be involved.
"So many things you're not sure you're going to do very
long," she added. "I played tennis my freshman year
and was on drill team my sophomore year, but helping lead my class
was something I knew I'd be interested in doing all four years."
Ahmad Brooks, 17, Abilene High's charming quarterback, said
he has enjoyed his stint as class president, though it does offer
certain pressures.
"I think you have to carry yourself a little different,"
he said hours before leading AHS to victory in its season-opener
against Lubbock Monterey. "Everybody watches what you do.
You really are the leader of the class and, well, what you do
on and off campus reflects on you."
To hear Lenecia, class officers have sometimes kept classmates
from embarrassing themselves. When I asked what kind of issues
students approached them about, she said some of the more intriguing
ones happen to be prankful in nature.
"Once some of them wanted to lock everybody in school,"
she said. "You know, where the seniors get out of school
and everybody else is locked in. And I said, 'How? And why?' I
mean, it was pretty ridiculous. Of course, I just said, 'Yeah,
right, I'll talk with the other class officers and get back with
you!'<t>"
A born politician.
CLASS ACTS
During my meeting with the student officers late last week,
I noticed they had an easy rapport with each other. When Ahmad
began talking proudly of how the class of '98 hadn't seen its
greatest campus achievement yet, Stephanie, a cheerleader, began
laughing.
"He's talking about <I>football,<I>"
she joked.
"He better be talking about football," principal
Royce Curtis said. "We play in seven hours!"
Stephanie, 17, who is considering a number of options after
high school, including pursuing a career in broadcast journalism,
says the class officers mirror much of the class of '98 at Abilene
High. She says she is proud of all involved.
"We're all different but the one thing we strive for is
class unity," she said. "I think everyone is real respectful
of each other, even if they come from different neighborhoods,
different religions and all that. It sounds kind of corny, but
it's true.
"I think this class is real good about letting everyone
shine."
Ahmad and the others say Melody Roper has been crucial in their
success as class officers, guiding them all four years. For her
part, the associate principal says she will miss them terribly
once the class of '98 graduates and moves off.
"I've told them I'm going to be crying all year long,"
she said, and then she began showing signs of doing just that.
"Don't start!" Michelle cried. "Don't start!"
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Copyright ©1996 or
1997, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications
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