Introducing Armijo’s student leader

Marian Supapo was speechless when she found out that she had won the position of Associated Student Body (ASB) President. “I was so surprised,” she said. “It’s such a great honor because of how many candidates there were and they were such great candidates to even be just a part of the panel.”

Supapo said that she is thankful for everyone who took part and she is looking forward to working with the new ASB officers this year. “It’s such an honor and I think being able to do it with my friends… is such a great thing for me, too,” she said.

“I definitely believe that I wouldn’t be the student that I am without Leadership, and it definitely has helped me connect with other students in Armijo,” said Supapo. She is no stranger when it comes to student government, having served both at Crescent Elementary and KI Jones. She’s been committee head for a few events, but waited for years before becoming president for the Class of 2023 last year, and now ASB president.

One of the many things that the ASB officers had to do before winning their positions was to campaign, and for Supapo it was a very fun process. “It was my favorite part of this year,” she said. “I did a lot of the campaigning with my boyfriend, which was actually kind of cool that we did it together. That’s something that we could have for memories.” Together they made posters and Instagram posts to reach out to the Armijo student body.

“I got to help out a lot of the other candidates, too, with their little picture frames, and things such as pins and buttons,” said Supapo. “I think it was just a really fun experience overall and something we only get to do once.”

As ASB president, Supapo will be leading the other officers in planning activities, including Homecoming, Battle of Armijo, and Powder Puff Football. “These are big things for our student body, so we have such a big responsibility to make the events as exciting as possible for the students, and try to make an impact around campus, too,” she said.

“COVID definitely impacted my leadership experience because everything we did was different that year. For example, lots of our things are based on doing things in person and reaching out to people,” she said, and that changed in her freshman year. Despite all the challenges the Leadership and ASB went through, the events were still a blast, “I think we did our best in doing virtual events such as Staff vs Students Game Night, but it was virtual…  I think it was a different experience, but a learning one and one that we can kind of look back on and see how we improve in like future years as well.”

Supapo might be in charge of a year that has a lot of growth potential and she wants to take advantage of that. “I think that I would love more inclusivity in our school just in general,” she said. “I think that Armijo is such a diverse place but with all those different groups, I would love to have them connected and be able to appreciate all the groups in our school even more. That is actually one of the goals I would love to accomplish as the ASB president this year,” she said

“I’m just super excited for all the things we’ll get to do this year, especially with it being a whole new year and everyone will be here in person. I’m excited to work with the ASB Panel and do everything that we have planning to do since freshman year. I’m excited to be able to make new connections and get to meet the incoming freshman and show them everything that we do around school,” Supapo said.

Besides leadership, Supapo has also been involved in Armijo’s Cross-Country and Track teams, and she played on the Basketball team as a freshman. She enjoys watching movies, listening to music and spending time with her family and friends. “My friends have such a huge influence on my life,” she said.