Just over 125 clubs attempted to recruit new members and make their cause known at the annual club fair throughout lunches last week.
The wide variety of clubs allows students to find their niche – whether for political, religious or purely recreational interests. While old clubs focused on attracting additional members, four new clubs introduced themselves to students. These new clubs involve helping others and raising awareness for local and global issues.
Help for the Homeless
One new club, Help for the Homeless, started by juniors Sophie Robertson and Christiane Mandes, is aimed towards raising awareness of the homelessness issue in Dallas. They are working with Union Gospel Mission Dallas, a group that provides homeless people with food and shelter, and will hold donation drives for the shelter throughout the year.
“We partnered with [Union Gospel Mission Dallas] because they are not a huge shelter, and it felt more personal,” Robertson said. “It’s a really rewarding thing to help someone and make a difference with a problem within our community.”
The club is currently holding a “Back to the Basics” drive, calling for basic products used in a homeless shelter, and there is a donation box at the Seay Tennis Center. The club will collect supplies through September 30. More boxes will be placed around the school and community soon, and the club presidents encourage students to join to learn more about their cause.
“If you come with us to drop off the supplies to the shelter, it will be amazing to see how you are helping firsthand,” Robertson said.
Sports Equipment for Kids
Another club that works to help people in the community is the Sports Equipment for Kids Club. Senior swim captain Lee Wang and senior football player Gus Vincent are the club’s co-presidents. The two share a love for athletics and competition and want to gather sports equipment to donate to children at various organizations.
“Our goal is to have a purpose in society and help kids,” Wang said. “ We believe that a lot of kids do not reach their full potential because they do not have the athletic equipment to succeed. We want to make a change.”
The club tentatively plans on meeting around twice a month and holding at least three donation drives. They are looking for members who are interested in their cause and are devoted to helping children.
Environmental Awareness Club
Juniors Sarah Rogers and Jade Harris also partnered to form a club addressing a widespread issue. The two created the Environmental Awareness Club with the goal of improving school recycling habits.
While some classrooms have recycling bins, students often throw their recyclable products in the trash, and the materials in the recycling bins are just thrown in the dumpster.
“We have to connect the city of University Park and the school to pick up the recycling, which is, apparently, really hard,” Rogers said.
About 75 members signed up for the club during the fair, and the co-presidents are working on lining up speakers to help promote their message. They hope to have recycling bins in the cafeteria by the end of the year.
“[Recycling] benefits our future,” Rogers said. “We need to step up, and take action — it is up to our generation.”
Rogers is on the Youth City Council of University Park and plans to use her role to benefit their cause. Which one of these new clubs interests you the most? Total Voters: 27
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New Voices
Consisting of students advocating for other students, The New Voices club takes a different approach to activism. The club, run by senior co-presidents Danielle Champine and Will Marshall, fights for student press freedoms. The club sponsor, yearbook advisor Margie Raper, inspired the creation of the club after introducing students to the national movement.
“One of our rights is freedom of the press,” Champine said. “However, a lot of high school and college students do not have complete freedom because usually the leader of their school is considered the editor-in-chief of all of their student publications.”
This means that principals and deans of schools can overrule anything students want to publish in school-sponsored publications. Though not all school leaders use this control, New Voices works to change state legislation, so administration no longer has power over their publications.
The club is searching for members who are involved in student press and those who are in activities involving expression, like fine arts. The leaders of the club have already reached out to members of the movement in Texas and received advice on how they can make their impact.
“[New Voices] is something that I am really passionate about, so I want to make a change and make sure it doesn’t end when I graduate,” Champine said.
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For more information about these clubs and more, students can visit the school website.
