Virtual VMA’s
BVH ASB hosts virtual assembly for Winter sports
On Feb. 4, Bianca Ramirez and Kayla T. present an award to the Bonita Vista Barons during the virtual assembly. Students watch attentively from their desks in room 703.
February 10, 2022
On Feb. 4, Bonita Vista High’s (BVH) Associated Student Body (ASB) held a virtual assembly to showcase winter sports, including wrestling, girls’ and boys’ basketball, girls’ water polo, and more. Last semester, BVH held an in-person assembly on Dec. 17 and now, after almost two months, they are back to virtual assemblies for the time being.
This semester’s in-person winter sports assembly was canceled due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. Many ASB members hope for more indoor assemblies in the future.
“I know we’ve only been able to experience one [in-person assembly] this year, even if it wasn’t like the ones from prior years, but it was nice to get that spirit feeling again and feel as if things were normal,” Spirit Commissioner for ASB and junior Jalieah Ruiz said.
In-person assemblies are part of BVH culture that many Barons anticipate, as evidenced by the stampede of students that would swarm the gym for assemblies prior to the pandemic. But, the difference in preparation and planning is something that makes virtual assemblies much more difficult compared to in-person assemblies. The technical commissioners’ job is doubled due to the increase in editing they must do. It was nice to get that spirit feeling again and feel as if things were normal. — Spirit Commissioner for ASB and junior Jalieah Ruiz
“[Having a virtual assembly places] more pressure on our tech commission,” ASB Vice President and senior Michael Dimapilis said. “Some things have to be pushed back, which cuts into their [tech commission] editing time, which causes them to edit last minute because we [ASB] have to coordinate with all these people [from the sports teams, cheer, and GTP].”
The tech commission and the hosts are essential in creating an engaging virtual assembly. Hosts from ASB are a major component of planning these virtual assemblies, as they bring the whole show together.
“We have hosts for each assembly. There are ones [who come] up with skits and [introduce] the main things [like the sports teams] and [carry] the whole assembly,” Spirit Commissioner for ASB and junior Estela Krivoshin said.
However, the spirit of virtual assemblies is difficult to compare to one that is held in person. Seeing that there is no live connection between BVH students and the hosts, generating ‘hype’ can prove difficult. In virtual assemblies, it’s difficult to interact with students, important segments such as roll call or grade level karaoke become impossible to carry out.
“In-person assemblies are much more spirited, there are high energy levels [and] for virtual assemblies, it’s every classroom watching a video,” Dimapilis said.
Krivoshin, along with Dimapilis and Ruiz, is unhappy about holding this winter sports assembly virtually.
“I felt a little disappointed [when the in-person assembly became virtual]. I had a lot of fun hosting the in-person assembly this year and was excited and hopeful that the rest of this year would be filled with assemblies similar to that,” Ruiz said.
Though this assembly was virtual, Barons can expect future in-person assemblies to occur. Future assemblies, like the Morp assembly, are ones that many students and staff are excited about.
“I think the one [assembly] that I’m most looking forward to is the Morp assembly. I’m looking forward to that one in-person,” Dimapilis said. “By that time [around May], we should be able to have an in-person assembly, given that the COVID-19 cases decrease and the district allows us to have an official in-person assembly.”
Whether these assemblies take place through the screen or in-person, both have a lot of work put into them, with support from technical commission, hosts, sports teams, and many more. There is a reason BVH’s ASB puts so much effort into having these assemblies to showcase the sports teams, and that is to inspire others.
“I would expect barons to see a lot of dedicated people because this [assembly] is about representing all the sports,” Krivoshin said. “We do these assemblies to encourage people, especially the underclassmen, to look at varsity teams and hopefully pursue that as they go [through] high school.”
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