Next year Carlsbad High has decided to make changes to the existing honorary programs, Champion Lancers and Royal Lancers. Rather than eliminating these programs completely, ASB stepped in to provide a new and improved version called Lancer Leaders. The new program will participate in many of the same activities, and the members are still required to meet a similar criteria.

Champion Lancers visited elementary schools and worked with the community to serve as positive role models for the youth of Carlsbad, while the Royal Lancers were rewarded this title for their academic success through high school. Though these programs were impactful, changes needed to be made for various reasons.

“The Royal Lancers and Champion Lancers weren’t really doing a lot with the program, so they were planning on canceling it,” 2016-2017 ASB president Emily Dewhurst said. “Mr. Riccitelli thought that since ASB pretty much pays for both of the programs, ASB should just take the program and fix it a little bit. So finally they decided to create Lancer Leaders.”

The decisions to cut these programs were separate because both needed to be altered in their own ways. For efficiency, the Lancer Leaders will represent both programs.

“I believe that the reason for the Royal Lancer was that there was some discrepancy in the fact that students can manipulate their GPAs,” ASB supervisor Mr. Riccitelli said. “It depends on what they take and where they take it, so it’s not fair because if a student takes a class at a community college it may hurt them versus a student who has more classes here. They took that part out of it, and they are making it more run by the district and tied more in with national merit scholar and SBAC testing, so it will be more of an equal playing field.”

The Lancer Leaders will be required to serve as active leaders for the elementary schoolers, while also having school spirit and a good work ethic in school.

“Regarding the Champion Lancers, they are making a change in the dynamic in the way it is going to go,” Riccitelli said. “Some of that directive came from the elementary schools and what they wanted out of the program, which was to make it more about being a good citizen and a good leader. At this point ASB was paying for all of it, and they were going to get rid of it, so we discussed and decided ASB will take it over and make it Lancer Leaders.”

Since ASB has a cross section of students already, many different groups will be represented through Lancer Leaders. By merging the two programs the Lancer Leaders will be required to do more, but since there will be 20 students in the program they will not have to miss as much school because they can alternate shifts.

“I think it will be beneficial in the sense that ASB is already full of leaders,” Dewhurst said. “This will be able to bring those leaders out and showing the kids that they can be a part of multiple things. It can also show them that they don’t only have to support the school through spirit, but also through their academics. Lancer Leaders will still have to have the same requirements as what the Champion Lancers had, so they still are required to have that GPA and have to be involved in multiple activities.”