PRINTAfter-school alliance
Forget post-school snacks, these students are craving extra hallway fun
Elise Catchings
At Rock Bridge and Hickman, there's a club for everyone.
September 24, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
For many students at Hickman and Rock Bridge, the final bell is the gateway to freedom. As students watch the clock, some daydream about ordering a crunchy chalupa at Taco Bell, and others play the latest Madden or Mario videogames in their heads.
But for a select few, despite hours of endless note-taking and tricky tests, their day has just begun. Are you a fan of zombie culture and want to discuss your love with other enthusiasts? Join the Zombie Defense League at either school. Want to watch contemporary cult film classics? Not a problem at Rock Bridge. No matter how peculiar your passion, you can easily find classmates with the same interests.
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- The young and the reckless
- Rumors and realities
- Overcoming obstacles
- The spread
- The Education of Segregation
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- Edged out
- Roosters, cows and mice, oh my!
- Crosstown competition
- Playing the field
- Say what?
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- Rival Survival
- Through the Years
- High school mascots go head to head
Rock Bridge senior Lauren Hoffert found other students who shared her love for anime three years ago. As the current president of the Kawaii Club, Hoffert tries to push aside cheesy stereotypes about the Japanese animation style.
“The club is mainly to show anime and that you can make amazing artwork and stories with it,” Hoffert says. The club, which usually hovers around 10 members each year, consistently incorporates new activities, such as drawing characters and comparing real anime with trendy copycats.
Although Hoffert acknowledges that many people don’t consider the Japanese style a form of artwork, she brushes off the criticism. “Then what is art?” she says. “This is simply a club where you can learn new things about art and meet a few new friends at the same time.”
Instead of studying stylized art, another group of students laces up hiking boots after school. Every year, 10 to 25 Rock Bridge students tear up the trails as members of the Outdoors Club. In addition to hiking, these adventurers bike and fish with other classmates who might not consider football their forte.
These nature-lovers also kick off each year by collecting wood for the annual homecoming bonfire — they keep the fire stoked for one of the biggest games of the season. Club sponsor and social studies teacher, Austin Reed, says that the group fluctuates in popularity annually, but a record number showed up to the club’s first meeting this year.
Hickman’s Amnesty International club is popular for a completely different reason. For 23 years, club members have devoted their time to campaigning against the refugee crisis in Burma and genocide in Darfur. Recently, Amnesty worked with Hickman’s student government on the Not For Sale Campaign to end human trafficking. The club’s purpose, according to language arts teacher and sponsor George Frissell, is to educate other students about the rest of the world. These student activists have no problem making a difference, one year at a time.
One of the most well-known clubs got its start at Hickman. In 2004, Hickman language arts teacher Phil Overeem founded the Academy of Rock, a club originally created to foster a Battle of the Bands competition between Hickman and Rock Bridge. They were successful: Overeem has seen as many as 35 students participate in the Battle of the Bands and more than 500 fans attend. The Academy still hosts the battle, and the club now introduces students to new music and serves as a strong networking system for aspiring musicians.
“You have to get to know each other somehow unless you knew people coming in,” Overeem says of student musicians. Since its inception, the club has fluctuated between 30 and 189 members.
The club is also constantly on the lookout for under-the-radar bands from all over the country and encourages them to play for students. A surprising number of bands are more than willing: Popular rock bands including the Drive-By Truckers and The Hold Steady have brought their music to the school and given the aspiring musicians tricks of the trade so that they can take their tracks to the next level.
Who knew that social activism and cartoon art would be so popular in high school? What’s next, a How to Make Your Homework Disappear club? Sign us up.
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