Math teacher Jillian Bellamy replaced Assistant Principal Nicolas Betancur as Associated Student Body (ASB) adviser last Sunday, October 1. Betancur stepped down to focus on his responsibilities as assistant principal.
The adviser change was initially discussed this past July, and Bellamy was contacted about the opportunity Friday, September 8. ASB will remain a sixth-period class, and Bellamy, who has a free sixth period, will now be teaching six classes.
ASB is responsible for a large part of student life on campus, managing clubs and organizing recreational events, including Homecoming. The shift will not impact the timeline of Homecoming festivities and ASB’s responsibilities.
“ASB’s mission has always been to bring the campus together and to create unforgettable experiences for the student body,” Betancur said. “I hope that ASB leadership continues to push itself, to ask the right questions, and to put in the time and effort needed to create the type of high-quality programming they want for their classmates.”
The ASB class will remember Betancur for his work to strengthen ASB’s mission and push the class: according to students, his legacy was one of dependability and stability.
“Overall, he established organization first,” Junior Class President Francis Ruan said. “He made ASB students take the class more seriously and understand that we represent the whole student body.”
“I want to thank Mr. Betancur for all that he’s done for our student body as our advisor and for the time and effort he’s put into our ASB class,” ASB President Lauren Holm said. “It’s been a privilege to work with him over the past 15 months.”
Bellamy hopes to make the transition as seamless as possible. Having participated in student leadership at Saratoga High School, advising ASB takes her back to her high school days.
“When we’re talking about Homecoming, I’m like, ‘Oh my god, I’m so excited,’” Bellamy said, “I’m excited for the dress up days, the rally — all of these are things I loved as a student, so being able to help them organize the same activities is genuinely really fun.”
She’s also entering the position with an emphasis on spirit and participation.
“You can ask any of my students, I go all out for every dress-up days,” Bellamy said. “And, now that I’ll be ASB advisor, I’m going to dress up even more.”
Of course, Bellamy’s new role will not be without challenge, but she is coming in prepared.
“This weekend, my plans are to read through the California ASB 400-page manual!” Bellamy said the week before she assumed her new position.
The transition will be work on both ends.
“It’s definitely gonna be a little bit of a challenge, considering we’re a couple months into the school year right now, but I do have confidence in ASB to ease through the transition,” Lauren said.
Bellamy is also going in with the help of ASB President Lauren Holm, who has been on ASB since last year.
“Lauren is so organized, she is so on top of it, so I feel like I’m learning from her and the rest of the class,” Bellamy continued. “They’re so willing to be leaders — I mean, obviously, it’s ASB — so I’m not as nervous about it because I know they will be easy to manage.”
But the ASB class seems to have the same faith in Bellamy that she has in them.
“She definitely has a lot of school spirit — she’s already shown that she had an interest in cheer even when she couldn’t be cheer coach,” ASB Vice President Brandon Fujimoto said. “She’s only come into the class a few times, and she’s already thrown out some good ideas. It’s clear that she’s going to make a real impact on the class.”
