By Myra Chen
Let me clarify, the Super Baron Card for the 2023-2024 school year is not so super unless you are part of a small demographic of students at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS). That demographic being: upperclassmen football fiends with spare time and spare money.
Priced at $130, the Super Baron is theoretically a good deal. It includes the yearbook, which has an early bird value of $110. The other $20 is put towards free admission to home games, reduced admission to away games, reduced prices on school events and a free $10 ticket to the Bell Game.
These benefits are not inherently bad. Students can save a lot of money with this card. A savings of $5-$10 per game and a guaranteed $10 Bell Game ticket? That $20 difference between the yearbook and the Super Baron can easily be covered with a little school spirit!
The fundamental issue is, the Super Baron is not catered to the general population. Three out of five of the premiums are sports related. In order to make the Super Baron worth the extra expense, you would need to attend multiple sport games, which can prove to be difficult if you are a busy high school student.
As to further narrow the target audience, the Super Baron discounts on school events are not necessarily applicable for underclassmen. Though every school dance is open to all grade levels, underclassmen are discouraged from attending upperclassmen “exclusive” events, especially winter formal and prom. Unless you are brave enough to face the wrath of juniors and seniors, these dance discounts won’t do you any favors.
Not to mention, these reduced fees on school events have reduced themselves. A $5 discount was once $10. Last Homecoming, in 2022, minimum ticket price was $70 without and $60 with Super Baron. This year’s Homecoming dance was $70 without and $65 with Super Baron.
Inflation exists. As such, we must work around rising costs for the sake of broke high school students. Instead of booking ridiculously expensive venues, we should be looking for cheaper venues to make attending dances more accessible.
Along with reduced reductions, there has been a decrease in the value of premiums in the course of the last four years. Meanwhile, the price of the Super Baron stayed static at $130.
In 2020, the Super Baron included one free dance ticket and a $25 pair of Baron logo pajama pants. The following year, the Associated Student Body offered the $30 Baron logo Hydro Flask. In 2022, they introduced one $20 Aloha Dance ticket instead. For this 2023-2024 school year, we receive a Bell Game ticket with a $10 value.
Rather than offering the 2023 $10 Bell Game ticket, we should follow in the footsteps of previous Super Barons: offering the pajama pants, Hydro Flask or even the free Aloha Dance ticket. All three of these options are exemplary in accommodating the vast majority of high school students — they appeal to freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors all the same.
The contents of the Super Baron card are subject to change. Hopefully, a change for the better, one where all students of FVHS can make the most out of it.
