Students in the News

Kaleigh Ansdell is this years student adviser for Lynnwood High School

By Sara Bruestle

The Beacon

Lynnwood High Schools ASB funds shrunk as a result of the recent budget cuts in the Edmonds School District. Students in ASB cant afford as many extracurricular activities as they did in the past, and theyre seeing higher athletics fees and limits and cost-reductions on supplies because of it.

The budget cuts are turning some heads, including the head of ASBs Kaleigh Ansdell, the new student adviser for LHS.

Experiencing all of the budget cuts firsthand has really brought this issue to my attention, she said.

Ansdell, a senior, is LHSs student adviser on the Edmonds school board for the 2009-2010 school year. Shes now in-the-know about the budget issues the Edmonds School District is facing.

The beauty of the school board, Ansdell said, is that while she and other student advisers get to learn about the districts budget cuts, district officials also get to hear what students have to say about them.

I feel that our comments are taken to heart by the board members, she said. Seeing them put into play is such a rewarding experience its an accomplished feeling.

As a student adviser, Ansdell aims to bring a well-rounded student perspective to the school board.

Coming from a high school with such a diversity of backgrounds, I try to keep in mind all of the walks of life I am representing and try to project those into my comments and questions at the meetings, she said.

Two years ago Ansdell had open-heart surgery, where doctors replaced a failing aortic valve with an artificial one. She later contracted fluid around her heart, turning a six-week recovery into a six-month recovery.

Ansdell said the experience has shaped her into who she is today. She has a different outlook on the way we live our everyday lives thanks to the surgery. She approaches day-to-day challenges with new determination including her role as student adviser.

We (student advisers) all have different backgrounds to bring to the table mine just happens to be one with a big pink scar down the center of my chest, she said.

Apart from being a student adviser, Ansdell is the ASB public relations officer at LHS, as well as a member of the high schools National Honor Society chapter and Link Crew, a club for welcoming freshman to LHS.

She also dances at Turning Pointe Dance Centre in Snohomish 12 hours a week. Shes danced for six years on the centres dance team, Trilogy Dance Co. The team competes in dance competitions in Los Angeles and New York every year.

Dancing takes up most of my time, but its something that I just love so much, I can't stop, Ansdell said.

LHS Principal Dave Golden is very pleased that Ansdell is the LHS student adviser on the school board. He said he cant think of a better representative for the school.

Kaleigh has an extraordinary amount of maturity, Golden said. Having gone through the experience of open-heart surgery, it gives her a certain maturity and a value to life you dont get normally.

Ansdells school counselor, Larry Wilson, said shell do wonderfully as a student adviser because she is so impressive in other ways.

Shes already an outstanding student and dancer and school leader, Wilson said. Shes well-spoken, she has excellent follow-through, shes very intelligent, very driven and very focused all attributes that help her as a student adviser.

After high school, Ansdell plans to attend a four-year university like Linfield College or Stanford University to study psychology. She hopes to someday be a clinical psychologist.

Human behavior really interests me, she said. I want to help people somehow, and I figure counseling individuals to enhance their lives would be a very rewarding job.