Check it Club

Checking-in with Check-It Club

Sydney Trieu

Web Editor

The bell just rang, and I hurry towards my car to get my lunch. Then, I walk back towards the quad and begin to make my way to the Check-It meeting in room 506.

After making a few wrong turns, I finally arrive and am welcomed by a warm and cozy atmosphere in Emanuela Giangregorio’s room.

I’m greeted by her upbeat voice telling me to pull up a chair and take a seat anywhere I’d like.

The chair legs scratch across the floor as I pull it out from underneath the table. I say “hi” to Harmony, Meadow, Eva, and Arman.

Ro Lozano and Kira Morse from North Coast Rape Crisis Team (NCRCT), introduce themselves, and they start going through the presentation they have up on the projector.

As different points and topics were introduced, a lot of discussion and commentary were brought up.

It was definitely very different from how I thought it would be. I’m a part of a lot of different clubs and they’re run in a similar way.

The president and officers run the meeting with the advisor adding some occasional input.

However, rather than just getting talked to, the team from the NCRCT was trying to get our input and helping us try to solidify our plans and goals for the club.

We ended up talking and talking, and eventually, our conversation abruptly ended with the bell ringing to signal the end of lunch.

There was still a lot left to talk about that would have to wait until next Thursday.

In the following meetings, we ended up discussing how we wanted to advertise the club and what our long-term goals were.

The biggest project in the works was the campaign for April, which is sexual assault awareness month.

In order to bring attention to the month, the Check It Club modified an event that Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH) puts on in April.

CPH Check It hosts an event where they have blank t-shirts where people can write or draw whatever they want on the shirts and then, they make a clothesline display to showcase to the public.

The AHS Check It plans to have a tree collage up in the library where the leaves have messages and art drawn on them to display their support for survivors or for people to tell their own stories.

In addition to the tree display, Check It is also planning on having a tabling event, where they’ll be providing information about the club and sexual assault awareness.

Throughout the entire process of working with the other club members on getting this club started and cementing the goals and core values, I’ve gotten to see what a wonderful and welcoming group the club is.

One of the main reasons I wanted to become a part of this club is to be able to create and foster a warm and accepting environment at Arcata High; one where there isn’t a stigma around being a survivor of sexual violence.

Senior Meadow Jennings also echoed this same sentiment.

“I just really do want to be in a community where everyone feels safe and supported. I think Check It is gonna be a huge, instrumental part of doing that for the Arcata High campus,” she explained.

I just really do want to be in a community where everyone feels safe and supported. I think Check-it is gonna be a huge, instrumental part of doing that for the Arcata High campus.

- Meadow Jennings

The sentiment Jennings echoed is one of the main goals of the club.

The whole point of the club is to educate people about sexual violence and to create a safe and welcoming place where people can share their experiences and ideas to make the AHS community a secure environment.

Another reason that I’ve come to appreciate the space this club offers is because of the independence we’re given as a club.

I feel like Check It is really a club that is for the students, by the students.

It feels like the students have a real voice and can steer the direction of the club.

I think that while the structure of the club is a contributing factor in the club being so self-reliant, the members are another key component.

The other club members help to create a really strong and cohesive community to help push for change.

A special spotlight should be put on junior Arman Abbassi, the only male student in the club currently.

“I think it’s valuable as a man... to get involved because people just see this issue as a woman thing. Like only women should try to stop [sexual violence], but men should also try to do their part to stop it. It should be a coalition to stop this issue...I think that if I join [the club], it would encourage other men too because then there wouldn’t be...a weird social stigma about wanting to join it,” he said.

I think that the sentiment and reasoning behind the motivation for joining the club are super powerful and will hopefully encourage other students to join.

For students that are interested in becoming involved in the club, it meets every Thursday during lunch in room 506.

Check It would like to have any student come and join their meetings, but they are especially interested in having underclassmen (non-seniors) join the club.

The issue surrounding sexual violence isn’t just contained to women. It can happen to men too.

By having more male students participating, it can hopefully help to destigmatize the idea of men becoming involved in this work.

“Someone needs to keep the torch going,” Abbassi said.

“It’s an important thing and it’s powered by students, and if there are no students then issues like this are not ones that are solved,” he concluded.