Westford Academy is home to a plethora of extracurricular activities that represent students’ interests. Ranging from band to speech and debate, to sports and community service, there are a great deal of opportunities for students to get involved. Starting this year, Westford Academy’s Student Community Club is added to this list, providing students with a reliable space to connect with their peers.
Facilitated by English teacher Meghan McCarthy, the Student Community Club came into being through an idea brought to the table by seniors Shreesh Chaturvedi and Aaron Wu, and junior Abiral Thapa. The club, which meets every other Wednesday from 2-3 in room 259, is designed to provide a safe and accepting environment for students to have meaningful and necessary conversations about ways to improve the WA community.
“Our club will be dedicated to bringing students together to positively impact our local and global communities,” the club’s mission statement states. “We believe that even small actions can make a big difference, and we strive to create opportunities for students to get involved in meaningful service projects and social justice initiatives to make Westford Academy an even better place for all.”
With Chaturvedi as president, Thapa as vice president, and Wu as secretary, the club is beginning to find their footing after three meetings so far this year. While the club has yet to determine exactly how it will be run on a regular basis, it is still off to a strong start.
“As a first-year club, we have been experimenting with the best methods of how to run a club meeting,” McCarthy said. “Only three meetings in, we have yet to determine the perfect format for meetings, but have discovered what aspects do work.”
As of now, a typical meeting begins with an icebreaker, where members share responses to an essential question. From there, further conversations about their experiences tend to develop.
“The leaders thought it would be nice to create a space where people can talk about issues that bother them. We have had discussions about feelings of belonging, and these conversations are completely run by students,” McCarthy said. “It’s really just a safe place.”
Beginning the year as a startup club comes with challenges, as they do not have the same presence as clubs that have been around for years. However, they are working towards becoming a more widely-known club in the future.
“It’s hard when you are a startup club because we haven’t yet established relationships with the community,” McCarthy said. “But we are looking at ways to advertise around the building to help make it more known.”
One way that the club was able to advertise was at the Activities Fair for freshmen in the fall. Similar to other clubs, they set up a poster displaying what they would have to offer throughout the school year.
“We got a lot of freshmen to sign up at the Activities Fair [at the start of school], so our membership is about half freshmen right now,” McCarthy said.
So far, the club has succeeded in providing students with a positive space to share experiences and grow as individuals.
“The idea behind this club is really about building a community,” McCarthy said. “I want our members to walk away from this club feeling like they had something that was truly theirs.”
With an always open door, the Student Community Club is open for all students to join in making a difference in the Westford Academy community.
“The biggest thing that we offer is a place to connect with other people,” McCarthy said. “Also, we always have snacks.”
