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The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

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Launer shares favorite memories, hopes for ASB

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After two years of working with students to provide a solid base for the Associated Student Body, Kindel Launer will step down from student activities director to return her focus to the English department.

– Hannah Kim

Now that she has fulfilled her two-year commitment to stabilize the Associated Student Body, Kindel Launer will step down as student activities director and dedicate more time to her English classroom.

“The program is in a great place right now,” Launer said. “I met my commitment and my heart’s really with my kids in the English classroom.”

Reflecting on the last two years working with ASB, Launer described some of her favorite moments, including the growing success of club day and the vibe of the pancake breakfast.

“Watching the freshman and sophomore elected leadership plan and execute and flip pancakes — that’s pretty cool,” Launer said. “And they plan everything from start to finish. Its just a nice vibe in the morning with the kids. “

Launer described a recent middle school summit led by students from ASB leadership as another noteworthy achievement. The summit included two workshops and group discussions.

“I was very proud of them,” Launer said. “It was a great moment.”

As ASB adviser, a personal challenge for Launer has been adjusting her skill set from that of a traditional classroom teacher to that of a more flexible student adviser.

“Being a resource for young people is different than leading a class discussion on The Picture of Dorian Gray,” Launer said. “And that for me was the hardest piece.”

Launer believes that through this challenge she has gained valuable experience that has improved her abilities to facilitate growth in impassioned students without circumventing their energy.

“I am very proud of working through that struggle as a teacher,” Launer said. “I can tell when I teach my freshmen that it has made me a better classroom teacher.”

Senior ASB Secretary Nabeel Sami described his two years working with Launer as an overall positive experience. 

“She pushes you a lot and gets the best out of you,” Sami said. “She’s like the drill sergeant that got ASB into shape and the students also worked their butts off and made it work.”

According to Launer, her decision to step down has not disturbed the positive atmosphere among the administration.

“There are very few industries where one can do that kind of movement and continue to work with the principle that brought you to the industry in the first place — that principle of putting teenagers first, and working with adolescence,” Launer said.

Launer said that she would be very involved in providing a smooth transition while Winston expressed hopes for Launer to mentor the new student activities director if possible.

“It’s awfully nice to be able to talk to somebody and have someone who can guide you through,” Winston said. “It’s a wonderful tribute to the position and the organization that there are people around to help guide you through the first year of anything new.”

What Launer hopes to see in ASB’s future is for the class adviser role to return and for the Parent Teacher Student Association and the Palo Alto Unified School District to find money to fund the role. The class adviser is an adult who participates in Spirit Week meetings and float buildings for each grade.

“Having that adult or faculty component to student activities for the ASB kids – that would be a terrific next step for the students and for the program here – for each class to have its own resource,” Launer said.

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