Since the beginning of the year, Concord Academy students have created many new clubs. One example is Star Wars Club, led by Conor Kennealy ’23, Isabella Selden ’23, and Will Gladstone ’23. Will describes the club as “a chill space to talk about Star Wars and connect with other people in the community with this interest.” Meetings so far have mostly included discussions, but in the future, the co-heads hope to host movie nights, lock-ins, lightsaber tricks, and anything else club members want to do. They say anyone who likes Star Wars or wants to learn more about it should come to a meeting.
Another new club at CA is Spanish Book Club, created by Aina Tasso ’23 and Serena Agarwal ’23. While discussing their love for reading in Spanish, they realized other members of the CA community might share this interest. The goal of this club is to create a “chill Spanish class”— a relaxed and supportive atmosphere where anyone who enjoys speaking and reading in Spanish can have fun. They want members to not have to worry about making mistakes and learn together. They begin by reading short pieces in Spanish each week, and then summarize it so that anyone who has not read the story can participate. Then, they discuss amongst each other.
Eventually, they hope to read longer stories in addition to watching movies and going on fieldtrips. Anyone who is interested in Spanish and wants to improve their Spanish skills is encouraged to join.
CA’s third new club is Writer’s Guild. Club head Camden Francis ’22 was inspired to create this club by his experiences of writing to people in isolation, such as his grandmother, during lockdowns in 2020. He wanted to create an opportunity for members of the CA community to share that experience. Camden realized that in a school setting, students can forget why they are writing and the impact their words can have, so he wanted to create a space where anyone can make change by writing personal letters to people in need. He describes Writer’s Guild as “a community of passionate writers” whose mission is to “spread positivity through writing.” Writer’s Guild is open to anyone in the CA community who has an interest in community service, writing, or both.
In addition to the three new clubs, CA also has a new affinity space, TEA, for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-questioning students and faculty. Co-heads Ashton Mota ’23, Loki Fondeur ’21, and Wyatt Fernandes ’23 created this affinity space because they felt resources for trans and nonbinary students were lacking. “We wanted to take it beyond making current spaces more inclusive,” explains Wyatt, “so we made a new one!” He describes the goals of the group to provide a safe space, to push for changes at CA, and to “serve as a reminder that trans people exist at CA and keep [them] in the mind of the community.” He describes the club as “a safe, non-judgemental space,” saying “you don’t have to be sure in your identity or out to come out; we want to make people feel safe.”