Join the club Aside from co-curricular offerings across sport, music, dramatic arts and visual arts, MLC students in Years 7 - 12 can choose from more than 30 lunchtime clubs. One such club is PRISM, standing for ‘People Really Into Science @ MLC’. This year the club had a membership of 50 ‘PRISMatists’, led by a committee of three Year 12 students. “Clubs give students an opportunity to get involved in their favourite subjects beyond the classroom environment,” says Harriet Waymark, one of the PRISM committee leaders. “For me, the most rewarding part of MLC clubs was meeting students from other year levels and holding discussions with equally passionate people that I might not have befriended otherwise.” PRISM had planned an impressive Interschool Science Conference for 2021, with several medical research scientists agreeing to share their insights with students. While COVID-19 forced this main event to be postponed until 2022, PRISM was able to host several fortnightly meetings, and its ‘students versus teachers’ debate was a hit with the entire student body. Growing in number and popularity every year, MLC’s clubs are usually led by Senior School students with teacher support. Humanities teacher Molly Murphy facilitates the Amnesty International club and the Creative Writers’ Guild.
4 The Star November 2021
Amy Xiao, Isabella Zheng and Rebekah Fullarton make paper cranes as part of the Global Committee club.
“By leading or being a member of a group, students develop their voice and the ability to advocate for themselves, their peers and others in the wider community. This could be about their own personal beliefs and interests or connected to their academic classes,” Molly explains. “Teacher facilitation helps students strengthen their communication and collaboration skills. We also support the events and activities that students design.” The Amnesty International club is focused on community and societal issues and finding ways students can support those in need. Its 2021 fundraising initiatives included a fun run and lunchtime stall. The Creative Writers’ Guild created an anthology of student writing. Fortunately, this club was able to continue meeting online during remote learning. “Students shared their writing with their peers for feedback and I gave them additional support,” Molly explains. “Students found writing to be a cathartic way to express the complex emotions they faced being in lockdown.”
“Clubs give students an opportunity to get involved in their favourite subjects beyond the classroom environment.” Harriet Waymark, Year 12
