WELCOMING NEW CLUBS

Student-led clubs find support in their first year

BY PERRIN GOULTER CO-EDITOR IN CHIEF, THE BUDGET

Clubs are one of the easiest, most fun ways to get involved in your school community. Immersing yourself in an activity or group of people participating in something you enjoy can truly make you feel like a part of a more niche community in a big school. But for those with passions not yet explored, there is only one option: create a new club.

This year, clubs have expanded at LHS. Some established clubs returned, such as Badminton Club. But in contrast to long-standing clubs, multiple new clubs have appeared around LHS.

On Wednesdays and Thursdays in the West Gym, you can find a group of students enjoying a sport that — up to this point — has only been offered to girls. This is none other than Volleyball Club.

Founded by sophomore Cameron Hardie, this club seeks to give young people an outlet for their love for volleyball.

“I have been really surprised,” Hardie said. “A lot of people have come out for meetings and it has been a lot of fun so far.”

Every new institution looks to its predecessors for some ideas on how to make things run smoothly.

“I take a lot of inspiration from how Badminton Club does their meetings and other events,”

Hardie said.

The club picked up at an intense pace, and Hardie is very pleased with the results.

“Meeting a bunch of new people who share my interest and enjoy playing volleyball has been my favorite part so far,” Hardie said. “I’ve played on club teams and have been helping manage girl’s teams for a while. Seeing an interest in the club in a way that I wasn’t expecting was really cool.”

If volleyball isn’t your thing, that’s alright. For the more medically inclined, you can head to Marci Leuschen’s classroom to attend a meeting of the Pre Med Club. The group has three founders: Frances Parker, Allison Jakubauskas and Bella Ball. The club came about from a former connection between these partners.

“It first started out as just a research project between me, Allie and Bella where we did Night at the Lab research for a project at KU,” Parker said. “We liked our group that we had and also just generally pursuing medical interests so we decided to start the club.”

Pre Med Club sees itself fitting into a larger piece of the LHS puzzle, aiming to uplift frequently overlooked voices.

“I think as the leaders of the club we feel very passionately about being women in STEM,” Parker said. “We definitely want this club to be accessible to everyone but make sure that those who are sometimes less represented in the medical industry have equal access to our club. The inaccessibility of the medicine field is a pretty big problem right now, and that’s something I’m pretty passionate about and some of the other leaders feel the same way. We just hope to give some equity to this space.”

For those who just need a friendly face and a community to help get away from the struggles of the day, you can head down to the library for the weekly meeting of Friendship Bracelet Club. Ava George is the leader of this club and experienced some struggles in the formation process.

“I’ve had to contact a bunch of different people and it forced me to stay really organized with everything which was something I wasn’t great at before,” George said. “But, during the club itself we just try to make the experience something that people will enjoy and have fun being a part of.”

Despite some of these early setbacks, things are running smoothly, and George hopes to highlight some of their impressive skills in the broader Lawrence community.

“I think[we start with] just teaching people how to make the bracelets, and then eventually I want to branch out with fundraisers and some other events to get the school involved with our club,” George said. “I think we are also gonna try and do some work with craft fairs in Lawrence, and showcase some of their talent as they grow and get our club out in the community.”