By Amy L. Alexander, Editor-in-Chief, ALHS Alumni Association Log
During his senior year at Lincoln, Alan Wong (Class of 2005) noticed something that worried him. In the cafeteria, refuse containers positioned near the exits and alongside support pillars in the cavernous space were one-size-fits-all. No recycling bins were available for the disposable food trays, aluminum cans, plastics, and other items that by the mid-2000s were regularly separated by municipalities that had implemented eco-friendly policies, including in San Francisco.
So, he developed a plan: He tapped his network of friends at Lincoln, and over a few days, they set up and labeled bins for recycling in the cafeteria and undertook an informal campaign to encourage students to begin separating their waste materials.
“I just took it upon myself. I thought, ‘Hey: Why aren’t we recycling all of our cafeteria trays?’,” Supervisor Wong recalled. “So, on my own, I just started getting people to separate their garbage from their trays during lunch. I got some volunteers to help me here and there, and we just did it,” he said.
That instinct for public service and for organizing and motivating peers into positive action has undoubtedly stayed with him since he graduated from Lincoln. And in December 2025, on the front stairs of Abraham Lincoln High School, Alan Wong was sworn in by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie as an Interim member of the Board of Supervisors, representing District 4, which is home to ALHS.
His appointment to the SF Board of Supervisors is in keeping with a long, proud legacy of earlier ALHS alumni who dedicated their lives to public service after graduating, including the late Phil Burton (Class of ’50), who served on the SF Board of Supervisors, as a U.S. Congressman, and in other state elected roles over a long career.
During an interview with the Alumni Association Log at Lincoln in January 2026, Supervisor Wong reflected on his years as a student at Lincoln High in the early to mid-2000s, sharing insights on his time as a Mustang. Throughout, it was evident that his life experience, including growing up in a working-class family in the Sunset District, shaped his decision to enter public service work, including as a Student Delegate to the SF Board of Supervisors while he was attending Lincoln, then as a Red Cross worker, and an enlisted member of the Army National Guard (where he continues to serve).
Most recently, he has worked at a city agency focused on family services; as a member of the board at SF City College, and now, in a full-circle moment, as interim member of the SF Board of Supervisors.
Among all the steps in his journey so far, being sworn-in to serve as a member of the SF Board of Supervisors during a ceremony at Lincoln High in late 2025 was unmistakably awe-inspiring, said Supervisor Wong.
“It was awesome to be able to be back at my alma mater…at the place where it all started for me as a youngster,” he said. “It was coming back home.”
He recalled that when he was elected to be a Student Delegate to the SF Board of Supervisors during his years attending Lincoln, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a story on his experience—and featured a photo of young Alan Wong standing on the very same front stairs where he was sworn in as Interim member of the board more than twenty years later.
Supervisor Wong recalled that his time as Student Delegate to the SF Board of Supervisors decades ago “was an adventure. I had always wanted to get more involved in service and student government, even when I was at Hoover [Middle School]; I wanted to get more involved, but I didn’t really have the confidence then,” he said.
When he entered Lincoln as a freshman, along with his required classes, he signed up for the track team, soccer, and Dragon Boat.
Supervisor Wong now jokes, “I wasn’t particularly good at anything. But during my first year at Lincoln, when I was into soccer and track, I gained a bit of confidence, and that really got me wanting to pursue what I had been interested in before. So, I ran for ASB’s director of publicity role…and I drafted my speech at home and practiced it. I remember giving it my all. I talked about my passion and why I wanted to get involved.” Later, he transitioned into student government, where he fit comfortably into duties focused on events planning for the student body.
Supervisor Wong credited current ALHS Alumni Association President Jon Woo (‘05), and Shawn Yee (‘03) with encouraging him to consider participating in the SF City Student Advisory Council, which is the SF Unified Public Schools’ liaison unit for high schools.
“Later on, there was a vacancy for the Student Delegate’s position [at the SF Board of Supervisors]. He developed posters and talking points and campaigned at other high schools across the district.
He won a district-wide election and joined the SF Board of Supervisors as one of two Student Delegates.
“My big turning point was being able to participate in track and soccer…it gave me a lot of confidence, and helped me build camaraderie with my classmates.”
That experience, in turn, led Supervisor Wong to continue active roles in student representation at Lincoln—a trajectory that directly ties to his recent appointment to the SF Board of Supervisors.
Looking back, Supervisor Wong says his instinctive drive to work in areas that benefit the greater good—known as public service occupations—was indeed forged at Lincoln. He tacitly encourages members of the public, including current and former ALHS students, to seriously consider the value of public service work.
“People can serve in many different ways. Some people can become school teachers; others can become firefighters, or journalists. My path has always been wanting to be a Servant Leader, and that’s why, after graduating from high school here, I served in the American Red Cross.
And I have, and continue to serve in the Army National Guard, for sixteen-plus years…also as a union organizer; also, I’ve worked at City Hall on policies. Directly before getting appointed [to the SF Board of Supervisors], I served as policy director at Children’s Council of San Francisco, helping families get access to childcare here in our city.
So, for me, it’s always been about public service,” said Supervisor Wong. “What ultimately drives me is a sense of responsibility, and duty to serve.”
This article appeared in the Spring 2026 edition of the Alumni Newsletter, the Lincoln Log. To get The Log delivered directly to you, and support The Association, sign up for an Alumni Association Membership below.
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