Students go clubbing
Where can teens learn to tango, become ham radio operators or sing in a choir rehearsing for a concert tour of Ireland?
Answer: Spokane-area public high schools.
An array of clubs at Ferris, North Central and University high schools are offering these and scores of other activities this year.
There are clubs devoted to rock climbing, African-American inspired step-dancing, social and political activism and theoretical mathematics, among other interests.
“There’s an awful lot of stuff we didn’t have 40 years ago,” said Bob Crabb, vice principal in charge of school activities and former guidance counselor at Ferris.
Today’s high schools, he said, are mirrors of the times.
“Clubs are evolutionary. Kids’ interests change, and rather than trying to fit them into our clubs, we try to fit activities to their interests,” said Crabb.
“There’s more social activism, cultural diversity and interests in other things you see in our culture” in clubs today, Crabb said.
Take technology, for instance.
Some of University High School’s Amateur Ham Radio Club members regularly chat with Middle Easterners using hand-held radios routed through the Internet.
“Over the last 3 1/2 years, we’ve had 55 students earn 69 Federal Communications Commission licenses,” said club adviser Steve Lalonde of the group, which reinforces school science and technology lessons.
The school also is home of Viable Vision, a not-for-profit student-run video production company yjsy operates as a club. Its board of directors, made up entirely of students, oversees its student creative teams. Lalonde is the club’s faculty adviser.
At present, Viable Vision is in the process of producing public service announcements to be televised between Comcast Cable programs throughout the West and Canada.
Seniors Teresa Nord, board chairwoman, and Alex Thomas, club president, agree Viable Vision has ignited passions for what they hope will become their professions. Nord is already an up-and-coming young computer animator. Thomas wants to direct films and videos.
Performing arts groups are popular, too.
University High’s Lirico Chamber Singers, an 18-member co-ed group, will serenade audiences at summer stops in Dublin, Cork and Kilkenny, Ireland.
Lirico’s tour will cap its average of 20 annual performances at such venues as orchestra halls, monasteries and downtown Spokane’s First Night celebration.
Five other U-Hi specialty choirs, including an all-male song and dance revue dubbed The Man Choir, and a female-only group, known as The Chanteuses, round out the vocal clubs.
Director Russell Seaton said he sees constructive changes in teens who join the half-dozen choral groups.
“It gives them a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves. So instead of a ‘me, me, me’ thing it becomes an ‘us, us, us’ thing. And it also teaches discipline and respect,” he said.
Some clubs help students develop empathy, self-awareness and self-esteem, like the 60-member Gay-Straight Alliance – a safe venue for gay, straight and questioning students at Ferris.
“For some of these kids, this is the only place where they can be themselves without getting any crap,” said GSA member Kathryn Wilhelm, 16.
That makes sense, given that some in the student body call it the “gay sex club,” said Chris Gaston, a 17-year-old senior who joined the club this year to help combat discrimination.
Chris Snell, a teacher and Ferris’ GSA club adviser, said these sorts of organizations are not intended to be sordid, a common misunderstanding among many kids.
At a recent meeting, GSA members learned about early emotional development and the psychology of healthy relationships of all kinds.
Meetings make it easier for kids to be themselves – without fear of reprisal – and help them grow comfortable enough to plumb issues taboo in the classroom, Snell said.
Clubs devoted to ethnic and cultural diversity also are getting some buzz.
The core of North Central High’s International Club includes foreign exchange students from Hong Kong, Norway, Korea, the Ukraine, Germany and Japan.
American students are welcome, too. They go bowling, ice skating, golfing, see movies and provide first-person insight on their respective homelands.
On the same campus, about 60 high-energy kids annually strive to make the world safer by their participation in S.A.D.D., Students Against Destructive Decisions. The organization is an outgrowth of the now-defunct Students Against Drunk Driving.
“These are cream-of-the-crop kids,” said faculty adviser Chuck Filippini, who teams with co-adviser Kim Puckett to guide the group.
Members encourage peers to steer clear of drugs, alcohol and reckless driving. They annually take seat-belt polls and submit their results to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
When it comes to number-crunching, through, members of the Ferris Math Club get the gold star.
A tiny group with only six members, it regularly delves into such topics as chaos theory, repeating geometric patterns called fractals and the math concepts embodied in giant bubbles, said math teacher and club adviser Ruth Brocklebank.
But regardless of their specific interests, teens turn to clubs for camaraderie, said school administrators.
“What’s important to kids is the same thing that’s really important to adults – and that’s belonging to groups. We encourage kids to follow their interests, as long as they’re positive and contribute to the school community,” said Crabb at Ferris.
And club participation can accelerate student learning and growth.
Filippini, who like all club advisers is a volunteer, said: “I don’t get a dime for doing this, but I get a huge amount of satisfaction working with these kids. And I’d like to see more teachers get involved with these clubs.
“It takes time. But the benefits are huge, and the impact on kids is enormous,” he said.