It’s the first few days back in school during COVID-19. Everything around you has changed; students are divided into cohorts, everyone has to wear masks, zoom calls every Friday, and half of your school work is online and done at home. Everything is a bit stressful and uncertain, but through it all, you hear on the announcements that clubs are meeting again, either through zoom or in person with social distancing. A little slice of “normalcy” and calm through the storm of the pandemic. You smile and decide to join a few.

GSA, or Gender Seuxality Alliance Club, has been around since 2003 and makes students from the LGBTQ+ community feel welcome and give them a place to talk about their experiences. Mr. Webb, the “host” of the club, explained that the club is an accepting space, open to the LGBTQ+ community and its allies, saying that it’s a place where students who are struggling can talk to people who understand what they’re going though. Through this pandemic, they still get together, with social distancing, to share what they’re going through even with the restrictions we have.

Every Thursday, the club either meets outside when the weather is nice or in 311 after school from 2:45 to 4:00. Of course, to stick with the pandemic’s guidelines, each person has to be 6 ft or more apart, so they gather in a circle so they can all hear each other. “As long as kids come, we work with it,” Mr. Webb said, referring to working with COVID’s restrictions. “Our circle has to be a little wider to keep everyone safe.” Another change that came along with the pandemic is that they do “virtual hugs” rather than real ones when someone gets emotional while talking. “Usually we would offer them kind words and a hug, but this is the best we can do to stay safe.”

In a similar situation, Student Council has changed to follow Covid’s guidelines. Rather than everyone meeting up, half of the students join in on zoom. When cohort A meets in the library on Wednesday, every 3 to 4 weeks, in person, cohort B is streamed on zoom to chip in with the club’s current projects. They meet at 7 am before school starts in the library, properly social distanced of course. Mrs. McKinnon, the overseer of Student Council explained that “they’re just happy to be able to do what they can even in these conditions.” 

Since Student Council is meant to give kids the opportunity to show school spirit, Covid’s restrictions has made this task pretty difficult. No assemblies, no dances; they plan all these big things but this year they aren’t possible. So, they had to think of something new.  “This year is making us think outside the box,” said Mrs. McKinnon. They’ve been working on connecting with the community by doing things like sending letters to Nursing Home residents. At the moment, they have about 300 letters written. They also wrote Thank you notes and made a video for veterans in the place of the veteran’s day assembly that was cancelled due to covid’s restrictions. 

So, even through this mess of a year, clubs are working around these restrictions, finding new ways to do the things they love to do. If you would like to check any of these or any other clubs out, here’s the list of all of the available ones this year and who to talk to. 

Art Club – Ms. Smith

Be The Change – Mr. Webb

Bible Study Club – Ms. Lacourse

Book Club – Ms. Mannon

Culinary Club – Mr. Greenland

Environmental Club – Dr. Houghton and Mr. Veilleux

Equestrian Club – Ms. Gelinas

FIRST Robotics Team (4H) – Mr. Whiteman

Future Business Leaders of America – Ms. Scarlett

Gender/Sexuality Alliance (GSA) – Mr. Webb

Generation Preventing Society (GPS) – Mr. Webb

Grizzly Buzz – Mr. McDermott

International Club – All World Language Teachers

Junior Classical League (Latin) Magistra Ford

Live Action Role Play – Ms. Carey 

Mountain Bike Club – Mr. Tsiatsois

National Honor Society – Mr. Chadbourne

Nina ‘Tin (Yearbook) Ms. Mannion 

The Paw Print – Ms. Pozin

Peer Outreach – Mr. Webb and Mr. McDermott

Professions of Science and Engineering (POSE) – Ms. Thomas and Mr. Devriendt

Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society – Mr. Pyszka 

Run Club – Ms. Mannon 

Student Ambassadors- Mr. Webb and Mrs. Roy

Student Athletic Leadership Council (SALC) -Ms. Barese, Ms. Gratton, and Ms. Russo 

Team Uncanoonuc (Special Olympics) – Ms. Nikias