Bonn grew up around the adult care home her parents owned before moving to Happy Valley where she currently lives. She was shaped in her early years by taking on responsibilities around the home and helping her parents care for other residents. 

Her mother was born in the Philippines, and immigrated when she was young to the United States, where she met Bonn’s father. Now, Bonn periodically travels back to the Philippines to visit family living there.  

“It makes me realize how lucky I am and how lucky we all are to live the way that we do,” Bonn said. “It takes some of my issues … and adds perspective.” 

Before La Salle, she went to the Fransiscan Montessori Earth School. 

Because it was a Montessori school, the focus was less on the traditional classroom style of learning, and more on trying to give students more responsibility and teach them how to use it wisely. This broadened the way she looked at the world and gave her more experiences that developed her experience and life skills.

“I think that environment kind of helped me realize … my love for leadership, and helped me to step into that,” Bonn said. 

She has further developed her leadership skills through her participation in gymnastics, and now dance, where she has gained more confidence in herself and her ability to be vulnerable.

Vulnerability and empathy are important to Bonn, and part of the reason she chose La Salle. 

“Sometimes it’s hard to see,  especially when we’re blinded by emotions or influenced by other people,” she said. “But I think seeing the good in people and trying to resolve problems in a way that is peaceful [is crucial].”

But, that vulnerability she now has did not come as early as she would have liked in her high school career. 

“As a junior, I have felt more included, I felt more like I’ve been able [to be] more confident in sharing who I am,” she said. “And … I would have loved if that happened earlier for me.” 

Bonn hopes she can be a leader who inspires others to be themselves, and one who can be a role model of inclusivity and empathy for the La Salle community, both inside and outside school. 

Already, Bonn said that she has begun reaching out and trying to communicate with the student body to create a set of priorities for next year, whether that be her joint ambition with her co-president to improve lunch options, or any other changes the student body wants her to advocate for. 

“I am very excited to work with John,” Bonn said, while also thanking the student body for her election. 

Rask, born and raised in Oregon, attended Holy Family Catholic School before his time at La Salle, and has been set on a path of leadership since his eighth grade year, when he helped design a new mascot, run assemblies, and connect and advocate for his peers — all things which he has used to grow skills crucial for his role as one of La Salle’s student body’s Co-Presidents.

Through his time at La Salle, Rask said that he has taken every chance he has gotten to engage with the community, whether through sports, theater, or leadership opportunities — all of which have brought the school to life for Rask. 

“You’re just actually part of a community that really cares for you, and I want to support that, ” he said. 

Since he arrived at La Salle, Rask has participated in the swim team and football team, and was a director of the winter one acts. Currently, he is working behind the scenes on the spring musical Anastasia. His time as director especially, Rask thinks, developed his leadership skills. 

“They give me ideas, and I try my best to implement them into the act that we were working on,” Rask said. “I definitely want to bring those qualities to my co-presidency.”

He chose La Salle for the community’s welcoming spirit and appreciation for him as his own person. 

Rask hopes to continue to foster the spirit that drew him here in his presidency, one filled with and focused on love, according to Rask. 

“That’s what community is all about, is love for each other,” Rask said. “That’s [my] goal, is to get a community that loves and respects each other every day.”

Rask has found English to be his favorite subject, as it allows him to express and develop himself and his values. It empowers him to have his own opinions and his own voice, with which he can advocate for himself, and now, for the student body. 

As the new Co-President, he wants to imbue the, in his mind, already high-quality school assemblies with even more energy. For instance, during the presidential election assembly, “it was just, basically just speech after speech after speech,” he said. While Rask thinks that those kinds of assemblies are crucial, he also wants to make it as easy as possible for students to be consistently engaged with the speakers and the assembly. 

Like Bonn, Rask is already starting to work with students to develop next year’s priorities, and working toward more specifics of his campaign promise to add more diversity to the lunch menu. 

Looking ahead, “I’m just excited for next year. It’s gonna be a great year,” Rask said. “I will not let any of the student body down.”