At the end of the 2024-2025 school year, the students voted for their new Associated Student Body (ASB).

When the votes were revealed, this year’s ASB was the biggest in West Linn High School history, with new ASB President Brody Olson, senior, captaining the new leadership. 

Being elected into ASB during sophomore year as a Sophomore Class Officer, Olson had never taken a Leadership class. However, with motivation from his peers, Olson found success and community, spurring on his desire to run for president. 

“I think it was about towards the end of summer, and we were having some snow cones outside, and I looked at [Mia Harmon], and I was like, ‘I really want to be ASB president, is there anything I can do to follow in your footsteps? Take me under your wing.’ And she’s like, ‘Don’t worry, it’ll all be covered throughout this whole year,’” Olson said. “I think that’s what really started my drive and my motivation to really get there and to apply myself 100% to all these events and to my ASB family, and just to build as many connections as I possibly could.”

When it comes to Olson’s agenda for the school year, motivating students to try new things is high on the list. 

“I’ve been trying to push freshmen [to] join extracurriculars because I think that’s where most of the experience of high school comes from—things like journalism, yearbook, ASB, choir, and band. I can’t put enough emphasis on that to branch out and just try something because that’s what high school is all about,” Olson said.

Prior to the start of the year, ASB made a video explaining the new phone policy in the West Linn-Wilsonville school district to play during the first Life class of the year. Olson acknowledges that the new phone policy will be an adjustment, but one that students can get through.

“ASB is going to be setting an example.  It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be super, super weird and super different, and there’s a lot of things we’re going to have to work around,” Olson said. “But I think we can get through together.”

Every year before the school year starts, the new team for ASB gets together and goes to the high school for a day-long retreat where the team gets together to bond, make videos, and get to know each other better. After participating in three retreats, Olson has seen their value and how they’ve built ASB into a connected team.

“I’m so grateful for the team I have now, [they’re] such an amazing group of just genuinely hard-working, dedicated, enthusiastic people. The only thing to really improve is learning from our mistakes and moving forward,” Olson said. “Just working with what comes our way next, and being more flexible and adaptable to situations like the phone policy and a bunch of angry students. We can always improve on things and constantly grow. As a team, we’re one heck of a unit.”

Now wrapping up his high school career, Olson looks back on what he’s experienced at West Linn and is grateful for the legacy he’ll leave as president. 

“I love this school. I think for me, being ASB president, this year is my send-off. I want to give back to the school as much as it gave back to me,” Olson said. “I think [being] ASB president is my way of saying thank you, and really nailing all the events I can and sending everyone off with good wishes, and just really getting that spirit out there, getting that community together.”

For a more in-depth look at Olson’s ASB president plans, listen to the latest episode of the West Linn Weekly Wake Up, hosted by Multimedia Editor Garrett Arendt and Copy Editor-in-Chief Clara Wood. Music by Nicholas Hull.