With the annual Club Day in the books, both old and new clubs on campus have officially started, drawing involvement from students around campus interested in meeting students with similar interests, developing skills, and making a difference at school and in the community. Arabic Club, Speech and Debate, and Letters of Light are three new clubs that are in full swing and are gaining members interested in what they have to offer.
Arabic Club
Like many clubs, the Arabic Club was created to connect students on campus. With a steady and growing population of students from the Middle East at Buena, the Arabic Club is starting up to connect and support students who share similar cultures and beliefs. The club also wants to bring awareness to Middle Eastern culture and the misconceptions people might have about the culture. Senior Rawan Abboud is the club president and counselor Natasha Hillis, who was born in Lebanon and has connections with the culture, is the club advisor.
“Part of [the] inspiration was providing a place for students from a similar culture and background to connect with one another and celebrate their culture,” Hillis said.
One of the Arabic Club’s main goals is to organize a field trip to UCLA to meet with the Middle Eastern Student Association (UCLA Mesa). This visit aims to inspire members in developing their club at Buena and provide them with insight into the college process.
“That field trip will also help our students from the Middle East understand the process of going to college and kind of see themselves being able to do that as well because they’ll see other students from their culture who have come from overseas and been able to go to college,” Hillis said.
Speech and Debate
A popular club found at American high schools arrives at Buena as it welcomes its first ever Speech and
Debate club. In this club, members develop skills to effectively debate and discuss important and controversial topics in a civil, safe space that encourages sharing and listening to diverse opinions and perspectives.
Led by co-presidents, juniors Maddy Pierce and Evan Ruiz, the club hopes to eventually participate in competitions and engage in debates with the other high schools in the district.
“We want to give everyone the opportunity to share their opinion and talk about it and do it in a formal, orderly way where everybody’s opinion is respected and nobody feels left out,” Ruiz said.
Letters Of Light
Letters of Light blends a love for writing with a commitment to serving people and the community, creating an unique and impactful club. The mission of the club is to spread hope and encouragement through writing empowering letters to people in need.
At each meeting, members write a letter to people in hospitals, shelters, women’s centers, organizations, and many other places where people might feel lonely and down to uplift them through a letter.
(Elizabeth McGovern)
As Letters of Light is established, one of the goals is to expand the club to other high schools in the county, further spreading the hope that a letter can offer and even write letters to places outside the country.
“Eventually we want to expand internationally and write letters to orphanages in South America or women shelters in Cambodia,” club president junior Naima Dickerson said.
Similar to the other two clubs, Letters of Light hopes to become an established club, spreading encouragement in the form of letters for years to come.
“After I graduate, I would love to leave a legacy and see it grow beyond Buena and reach more people around the world,” Dickerson said.
