Now that the school year is in full swing, clubs are kicking off.
Asia Club:
Asia Club welcomes all students who wish to learn about Asian Culture. Senior Lisa Yang, president of Asia Club, said, “We have meetings during lunch, and watch popular Asian movies.” The members of Asia Club also get to enjoy trying different Asian foods at their meetings.
Club Castellano:
The Goal of Club Castellano is to spread Spanish throughout the Saint Stephen’s Upper School community. Members do a wide variety of things, from bake sales to Congreso, a Spanish competition against other schools. Club Castellano president junior Tiffany Yoon said “We just want to get people to have fun and enjoy the Spanish language and culture.”
Club Cake Pop:
In Club Cake Pop, members learn to make cake pops and sell them during break. All the money raised from the treats is donated to a local charity, The Lord’s Pantry, at the end of the year. Co-presidents and founders, juniors Chelsea Burgess and Gera Versfeld, said, “Club Cake Pop is a fun, creative way to raise money.”
Drama Guild:
This year, the Drama guild intends to focus on improvisation skills and raising awareness for the schools theatre account. Senior Summer Begalka, co-president of the Drama Guild with senior Brian Elliot, said, “we really want to let everyone know that we do have a theatre account that they can donate to and that a theater will benefit literally everyone.” Even if you don’t enjoy acting, you can join the club and work backstage during school productions. Elliot said, “Drama is a great way to learn to think on the spot, to express yourself and to build up confidence.”
Feeding America:
Sophomore Toby Chinwuba, president, and vice-president, freshman Tiffany Chinwuba, are co-founders of the club Feeding America. Members of the club brainstorm and plan creative ways to raise money for The Lord’s Pantry, raise awareness for Feeding America and help out in their community. “What makes this club special is that we provide opportunities so you can go volunteer at the places that we are helping and see where all your hard work is going,” Tiffany said.
French Club:
Throughout the year, members of French Club will watch French movies, learn about French culture, and have bake sales, selling crepes and other French favorites. At the end of the year, not only do members of the club get to compete in the state-wide competition, Congrés, but they also get the opportunity to host French exchange students for two weeks. French Club president, junior Laura DeMaio, said, “French Club gives students the opportunity to practice French in a more fun environment that’s focused more around culture rather than grammar.”
Future Business Leaders of America:
Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) is a club for students who have an interest in pursuing careers in the business field. President and founder of FBLA, senior Devon Tallman, said, “We have guest speakers come in, we tour local businesses and we try to do a lot of fun, hands on stuff to help students figure out what they want to do.” Students also get to fine tune their leadership skills and interact with students who share the same interests as them.
Green Club:
The main goal of Green Club is to spread the idea of reduce, reuse, recycle to the other divisions. To achieve this goal Green Club members go talk to the other divisions to try and spread recycling initiative throughout the Saint Stephen’s community. Green Club President senior Gabrielle Woodruff said, “People don’t realize all of the little things that effect the environment, and Green Club helps put you in that global mindset.”
Interact:
Interact is a community service club that aims to do at least three major projects a year. Senior Shreya Patel, president, said “Interact is a branch off of the Rotary Club, and we try to go by their motto, “Service Above Self.” This year, locally Interact is going to be working with Feeding America, The Lord’s Pantry, and the American Cancer Society. They also plan to send relief to Haiti.
Jefferson-Hamilton Society:
The main objective of the Jefferson- Hamilton Society is to educate students about economics and politics. “This club is actually a lot different from the other clubs because even though we have class officers, we don’t really run the club.” said Jefferson-Hamilton Society president senior Monique Chivak. Instead, members bring in different articles every week for the group to discuss and debate. In order to enjoy the club, “you have to have a desire to educate yourself in economics and politics, or you not going to enjoy yourself at all,” she said.
Latin Club:
Latin Club continues the tradition of the classics at Saint Stephen’s. Students have regular meetings to prepare themselves for state, regional, and even national competitions. President senior Ben Israel, said “Because Latin is technically a dead language, people don’t realize how much fun it is.” Israel also said, “[Latin Club] is one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my entire high school career.”
Math Club:
Math Club members participate in three competitions a year. During meetings, members split up into different categories: geometry, algebra 1, pre-calculus and calculus, and then they prepare for competitions. Math Club president, senior Brian Gentry, said “Our goal is to show up everybody else [at the competition] with our math knowledge.” Gentry also said, “[Math Club] is a lot of fun; it makes you smarter, and it’s a great way to share with friends.”
The View:
The View is a multi-language magazine written by students in the club. Writers for The View author articles in French, Spanish, Mandarin and Latin, and students then translate the articles. Senior Jennifer Sundstrom, president of The View, said that their main goal is that “language teachers will use the articles as a tool in the classroom so that students can read the articles, read the translations and learn from them.” Sundstrom added, “It’s lots of fun. We all have a good time, and you learn how to work with other people.”