A New Door Opens For Open House
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW As ASB reaches out to involve more parents and students, the traditional Open House has expanded to spotlight various clubs and organizations on campus, while teachers interact with parents during appointments.
BARRY CHEUNG
Staff Writer
Open House is an annual school event that showcases the achievements of students. AHS hosted their 2014 Open House on Feb. 13, but in comparison to the previous years, this year’s Open House revealed some of the opportunities that the school has for the prospective students.
“This year’s Open House was great. While I was working, I got many comments about how this year’s was better than the previous one due to the many features added to this year’s Open House,” ASB staff assistant Dominic Guan said.
To begin Open House, an all-you-can-eat Spaghetti Dinner hosted by the Mighty Moor Marching Band started at 5:00 and lasted until 8:00 P.M. A Spaghetti Dinner also took place during last year’s Open House, but there were new additions this year, such as Jazz Band’s performance during the dinner. In addition, to accompany the dining experience, the Ceramics and Drawing and Painting classes had an arts display exhibited in the cafeteria.
“This year’s Open House [was] far more organized than last year’s. I like how they took advantage of Third Street this year and gave each club and sport their own table,” Girls’ Tennis representative Tiffany Chan said.
Afterward, most of the other events began simultaneously at 6:15 and ended at 7:45 P.M. The Club Fair and Athletics Fair was hosted on Third Street; the Honor Roll Recognition was hosted in the Library; the dance performances took place in the auditorium, while ComedySportz, Speech and Debate and AMPS performed in the Little Theatre. The Club Fair and Athletics Fair allowed clubs and sports to showcase their achievements and inform parents more about available school activities.
The auditorium was not used last year, but this year a numerous amount of seats were taken as each dance team was about to perform. The Honor Roll was another new addition to this year’s Open House. Tables were set up with many “Congratulations” papers on them, and ASB’s Assistant of Public Relations Tevin Voong took pictures of the honor roll students.
“[Open House] seemed more involved this year because of the Club Fair, Athletics Fairs and the performances. It showcased what we have to offer for the [students] instead of just academics,” Girls’ Volleyball representative Iris Zhou said.
The AP information session was the last to occur, between 7:00 to 8:00 P.M. The session informed students about what is recommended for an AP class, the dedication required and to give extra info about specific classes. There are different types of commitments for the AP courses. AP Physics has a two-year commitment, while the other AP classes require only year. According to the counselors’ assembly, these courses require approximately two hours of work every day of the week. The prospective students for the AP classes asked multiple questions during the session about their uncertainties and whether or not they should continue with signing up for the class.
“Open House was great! People seemed to have fun with all the clubs and […] the performances were awesome,” sophomore Simon Voong said.