(December 14, 2012) — The sound of cans being stacked clangs in the covered area on Nov. 30 in order to avoid the rainy weather. ASB members helping with the event were excused early from class to prepare for the event. Director of Activities junior Sherry Zaki was assisting with the can stacking competition. “Every year ASB holds a canned food drive and students are encouraged to bring in canned goods,” Zaki said. As the holiday season approached, ASB encouraged students to bring in canned and packaged foods for Ascencia, a foundation that helps the less fortunate. Classes that had collected cans were given the opportunity to participate in the annual can stacking competition. Some teachers encouraged their students to participate, and as a reward, the winning class received a prize. “Mrs. Melville’s class won by a big margin,” Zaki said. “She’s always encouraging her students to bring cans in.” While some classes actively participated, others did not contribute to the drive. Junior Christina Galajian was a student in one of those classrooms. “It’s unfortunate that nobody brought in cans because it would have benefitted people who were going to be receiving the food around the holiday,” said Galajian. Senior Menua Aghajanian had similar feelings. “Only one person brought in five cans during fourth period all week. The week went by so quickly that I forgot to even bring cans,” Aghajanian said. ASB made efforts to advertise the upcoming event by making an announcement in the bulletin and putting up posters around campus. However, not all the advertising reached the entire student body. “One of the problems is that the school doesn’t remind us enough. Nobody came around to tell us, and most teachers don’t read the bulletin and I definitely don’t check myself,” Aghajanian said. Despite partial participation, ASB was not disappointed in the amount of cans collected. “We collected a pretty good amount of cans. Yes, some years we collect more and some years we get less, but we were pleased with the total we got this year,” Zaki said. In addition to all the cans collected, Melville’s class was rewarded with their prize: a pizza party.