It seems you've found your answer already but since you mentioned the active form I'll contribute with one more, even if it differs only ever so slightly.
we are going to use ArrayHelper so first add it to the name space by
<?php
use yii\helpers\ArrayHelper;
?>
ArrayHelper has many use full functions which could be used to process arrays
map () is the one we are going to use here
this function help to make a map ( of key-value pairs) from a multidimensional array or an array of objects.
This is about generating data, and so is more properly done from the model. Imagine if you ever wanted to change the way data is displayed in the drop-down box, say add a surname or something. You'd have to find every drop-down box and change the arrayHelper. I use a function in my models to return the data for a dropdown, so I don't have to repeat code in views. It also has the advantage that I can specify filter here and have them apply to every dropdown created from this model;
/* Model Standard.php */
public function getDropdown(){
return ArrayHelper::map(self::find()->all(), 's_id', 'name'));
}