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From gardening to robotics, high school clubs thrive during the pandemic

Leslie Miller | Catholic Herald Staff Writer

The Art Club at Bishop Ireton HIgh School in Alexandria created stencils of famous Hispanic artists to decorate the school’s spirit rock for Hispanic Heritage Month. COURTESY

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Ireton juniors Qin Kramer and Stella Hermann created an American Sign Language Club, to increase awareness of the deaf community and help students learn to sign. COURTESY

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The new Minority Student Athlete Alliance at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria has hosted panel discussions with retired athletes and other high-profile guests via Zoom, on topics such as Athletes and the Law. COURTESY

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O’Connell’s CyberKnights Cybersecurity Club is one of many popular STEM and technology clubs across the diocese. COURTESY

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Margaret Cole (left) and Lina Gallo started the Dignity in Gardening (D.I.G.) Club at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington to help community members keep up their yards during the pandemic. COURTESTY

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Members of the Dignity in Gardening (D.I.G.) Club at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington help community members with gardening and yard work. COURTESY

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Brothers Will and Walker Kopp of the Economics Club at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria play the Virginia Stock Market Game. COURTESY

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The Computer Science Honor Society at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria created the STEMbassadors program to mentor diocesan middle school students. COURTESY

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Members of the Pink and White Club at St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly gather in the chapel for prayer and adoration on a recent Friday afternoon. COURTESY

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Students compete in a 2020 VEX Robotics tournament at All Saints Catholic Church in Manassas, hosted by the Seton School VEX Robotics Club. The club hosted the only two in-person student tournaments in the state this school year, with numerous modifications to accommodate social distancing and safety. COURTESY

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Lina Gallo and Margaret Cole say the first seeds of the new club
were planted last spring. 

The two students at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington
grew up helping their moms in the garden, so when the coronavirus hit the area
in March, they realized gardening was one of the few activities that could be
done safely with friends, outdoors and close to home. After helping a few
neighbors with yard cleanups, “we recognized we could use our passion for
gardening to enhance and give back to our community,” said Gallo.

The D.I.G. Club, short for Dignity in Gardening, aims “to unite
our community and bring dignity to those who are not able to keep up their
yards,” she said. “By uprooting weeds, we are rooting ourselves in the
community and planting seeds of stewardship in our hearts.” 

The girls sought to make their club official by enlisting
religion teacher Juliet Joly to be their faculty moderator. “They wanted to get
more students involved in providing active service during the pandemic,” Joly
said. “They’ve been really determined to make this happen.” 

When D.I.G. was added to O’Connell’s activity listings, about 55
students signed up, “which is a lot,” Joly said. Members have pulled weeds,
planted flowers, painted pumpkins for porches and donated handmade wreaths to
nursing homes. 

It’s become one of the fastest-growing clubs at the school, “and
we know that our members will happily take on any project,” Cole said. 

Student-led clubs such as D.I.G. play a huge role in the lives of
high school students across the diocese, providing opportunities to learn
leadership and practical skills, as well as offering a taste of possible future
careers. Most years, they must compete with sports for time and attention, but
with athletics largely sidelined this year, clubs focused on everything from
STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) to service and social support
are enjoying a higher profile. And in a new world of social distancing and
Zoom, many clubs have found creative ways to innovate and thrive.

Victoria Baker, a senior at Seton School in Manassas, has spent
four years in the school’s VEX Robotics Club, where students learn to build and
program small robots to compete in tournaments. Students work in teams to get
the robot to pick up, transport and deposit red or blue balls in buckets to
earn points, a little like robot basketball. The rules change every year,
requiring new robots and different programming.

“Coming into high school, I was not a ‘STEM kid,’ ” she said, but
the club showed her the real-world applications of science and math principles
learned in the classroom. “My experiences as captain of my team in robotics
taught me perseverance and leadership skills, as well as exposing me to
computer science, the field that I am hoping to pursue in my future career,”
she said.  

The club is “a tremendous learning opportunity,” said faculty
sponsor Mark Hoffman, a retired Navy engineer who’s been teaching at Seton for
almost 10 years. Seton hosted the only two in-person tournaments in the state
this year, with numerous modifications to accommodate social distancing and
safety. He livestreamed the events for the multitude of students and other
spectators who couldn’t attend because of strict capacity limits. 

After being in the club, “almost all the kids go into engineering
and computer science and those kinds of fields,” Hoffman said. “Most of them
have a real inkling that this is right up their alley. They like it, so they
pour their time into it, and then they do well. It keeps reinforcing itself.” 

Seton sophomore Rudy Gasser is hooked. “One of the greatest
things about the robotics club is the aspect of working together toward a
common goal. One member may come up with general ideas for the robot, while
another uses their structural knowledge to put the ideas into practice, and
another writes a program. Seeing the combined efforts of each member play out
on the field during a competition is a great feeling, regardless of how well
the team performs.” 

Other STEM-related clubs also have taken off this year across the
diocese, including O’Connell’s CyberKnights Cybersecurity Club. Senior Elaine
Ly laughs as she recalls her initial confusion when school librarian Eva
Gonsalves told her about a networking competition her freshman year; she at
first  thought networking referred to
making business connections for future jobs. But she was intrigued and decided
to check it out. Now she’s thinking about a career in data science or
cybersecurity.

“At first, I was very intimidated because I had no clue where
even to begin. Fortunately, two seniors were able to introduce me to the basic
concepts, and from my first try onward, I became excited at the prospect of
learning more about different commands and gadgets to accelerate our school’s
ranking on the charts. Now, I learn not only because of ambition and
competitiveness, but because I am genuinely fascinated by all of the resources
and strategies available to address real-world cyber problems” and data
breaches, she said.

At Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Cameron Arnold said
being one of the co-leaders of the Girls Who Code club “has kept me grounded
and involved” as a fully remote student. “Each and every girl contributes and
their knack for computer science inspires me,” she added. Club members teach
each other new software and programming languages, and work with the Coding
Club to host an annual “hackathon” event, all virtual this year. 

Ireton’s robust computer science department also offers other
computer-related groups, including the Computer Science Honor Society, which
this year helped teachers adapt to online learning and created a STEMbassadors
program to mentor diocesan middle school students. “Being virtual has made it
easier to connect with others, such as when we hosted a college panel of 13
computer science students studying at colleges across the country,” said Laura
Segura, club president. 

Ireton has many other types of offerings as well, said Kevin
O’Keefe, student activities coordinator. He listed numerous clubs whose
students have created innovative programs or won honors at competitions, many
now virtual.

The Model United Nations Club won awards for public speaking,
diplomacy and quick thinking in crisis simulations at a recent conference. The
Art Club created stencils of famous Hispanic artists to decorate the school’s
spirit rock for Hispanic Heritage Month. Two Economics Club members won the
Virginia Stock Market Game, in which students compete to earn the highest
investment returns. Students can “learn and compete without the need to be in
person,” said William Kopp, club president.

The new Minority Student Athlete Alliance helps student athletes
“broaden their vision and knowledge of social justice and promote awareness in
environments that are unequal in terms of racial backgrounds,” said Kennedy
Clifton, founder and president. The club has hosted panel discussions with
retired athletes and other high-profile guests via Zoom, on topics such as
Athletes and the Law and Athletes and Money Management. 

Also this year, Ireton juniors Qin Kramer and Stella Hermann
created an American Sign Language Club, to increase awareness of the deaf
community and help students learn to sign. More than 50 students have
registered, Hermann said, adding that “no one in the club is deaf, but many members
know people who are deaf or hard of hearing.”

At O’Connell, social service and support clubs include Best
Buddies, where members work with students in expanded services, and the One
Love Club, created by Alexa Wootten to educate young people about relationship
abuse. 

Some clubs focus on hobbies or just decompressing after school
with friends, such as the Game Club at Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High
School in Potomac Shores. “The club is like a family; we look out for each
other,” said senior Jonathan Sipple.

Creating a welcoming space for girls is the goal of the
longstanding Pink and White Club at St. Paul VI Catholic High School in
Chantilly. The club meets every Friday after school to provide an informal
setting for girls to pray together, share ups and downs, and work on service
projects such as writing anonymous letters of encouragement to send to girls
around the country. 

“It’s a chance to connect in a deeper way outside of the
classroom,” said faculty adviser Kathleen Leffas, who teaches Theology of the Body
for freshmen girls. The white in the club’s name is a reference to purity, she
said. 

“We grow together as friends, and we’re growing in faith at the
same time,” said Camila Gutierrez, who joined as a freshman and is now club
president. “From my first time, I knew Pink and White was going to be an
important part of my next four years.” 

“Now with the pandemic, things can seem a little lonely,” but she
said the sense of community the club provides “hasn’t at all been lost, it’s
just gotten stronger.”  

Across the board, teachers with a first-row seat to club
activities express admiration for students’ initiative, creativity and hard
work.

“This is my opportunity to show the kids that I believe in them,”
said D.I.G. club moderator Joly. “I was believed in by an adult when I was a
teen, and that’s one of reasons I became a teacher.”

 

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