This year’s Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) club fair took place last Wednesday during super-flex in the gym, where students circulated among rows of club displays — tri-fold posters, sign-up sheets, bowls of candy — and stopped to ask questions about what each club had to offer.
Of the 34 clubs represented at the fair, these four were new: the Native American Student Alliance (NASA), Free Club, Wellness Club, and Snow Club.
History teacher Amy Jacques helps to oversee the school’s clubs. She said, “A couple of [the new clubs] jump out at me as clubs about some important things that we should focus on, and that sometimes get overlooked by teenagers.”
The Wellness Club, for example, puts the idea of well-being directly into practice, giving students a space to explore practices for balancing a strong academic life and extracurriculars, while also prioritizing their own mental health.
Juniors Lacey Munn and Iyla Story founded the club. In an email, Lacey said, “We hope that students will gain new perspectives on how they live their lives, and will find meaning in the little things.”
Free Club is a chapter of the nonprofit organization Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), which aims to empower young people through peer-to-peer prevention against substance use.
Sophomore Adriana Curelli is the co-founder, and said the club is focused on spreading awareness about substance abuse through events that are inclusive to everyone but don’t include substances. She and fellow sophomore Violet Werther were inspired to form the club after something Ms. Jacques mentioned in their freshman history class. “Substance use has been a huge problem in our school, so we wanted to help create a healthier and safer community,” Adriana said.
Adriana added that all are welcome to attend their future events: “Whether you’re in the club or not, you can have fun without substances, and make good decisions when hanging out with your friends.”
Seniors Amos Sauer and Dejana Gentry are spearheading the first ever NASA at MVRHS, where Wampanoag tribe members and non-native students can come together to learn about Wampanoag culture and traditions.
Dejana said, “I wanted to create a community space for the native youth in the high school, especially because a large number of [native] kids have come into the school in the past two years, so I wanted us to have a community space where we could get together,” Gentry said.
NASA also plans to attend national native youth conferences this year, where multiple native high schoolers from around the country come together to share their experiences.
The Snow Club returns after a two-year break, and planning for a March ski trip is already underway. Junior Clover Briggs is the newly installed Snow Club president. She shared that after signing up her freshman year, the annual trip was canceled, so she decided to bring it back to life this year. The club is open to skiers at all levels, and lessons and equipment will be provided for those who need them.
For the first time ever, students took the lead this year in organizing and planning the Club Fair. Senior Isla Fairstein spearheaded the planning, and said that despite the stress of organizing a schoolwide event, it was a gratifying experience in the end. She said, “To me, clubs are really important because they’re a big part of the school community that goes on other than the
