New Clubs Bring Students Together with Origami, Animals, Thrifting
At Origami Club’s second meeting in room 471 on November 30, students made origami cranes and stars. Photo: Heidi Gao
By QINGYING CHEN, HEIDI GAO, and GRACE CHEN-NGU
Students with broad interests and diverse aspirations kicked off the season with several new and revived clubs, including Chamber Music, Thrift Club, DIY-Origami, Glee, Men’s Health, Animal Care, Amnesty International, and Cycling.
With over 90 clubs, it can be hard to form something unique and exciting, two characteristics that are needed for a club to be approved.
The Animal Care Club (ACC) started due to a “personal interest in animals,” said Sophie Weng ‘24, the club’s president. “I actually started off by donating to a wildlife organization. It’s all non-profit organizations I found online.”
Weng plans on “collaborating with Midwood clubs, like the Art Club or Crochet Club for example, so we can host activities for students to create crafts to donate to shelters,” she said. The ACC also plans to volunteer at local animal shelters to help stray animals.
Vice President Candice Chong ‘24 said, “Sophie and I actually had Midwood’s stray cats in mind while we were creating the club. Almost every day, we saw the kittens running around outside the school and felt compelled to help them in some way.”
Members of the club can expect an opportunity to create animal care packages and take trips to local shelters. The ACC meets Fridays, Period 9, in Room 151.
Thrift Club President Syeda Momina ‘24, whose club meets Tuesdays, Period 9, in Room 3N, is planning monthly environmental projects that revolve around sustainable fashion.
“We’re really hoping to work with a non-profit organization or second-hand store to volunteer at,” Momina said. “We think this would be an amazing idea to introduce because not only do we give back to small businesses and organizations, we’re also experiencing how things work firsthand.”
Glee Club meets on Tuesdays (Period 10) and Thursdays (Period 11) in Room 315. President Lizzie Zhang ‘26 envisioned a place where students like herself could “sing freely without any boundaries or deadlines or guidelines.” Like most new club founders, one of her biggest challenges was wrangling up members.
It’s not easy leading a fledgling club or overseeing the dozens of student groups in Midwood’s catalogue, explained Mr. Lawrence Kolotkin, the school’s COSA.
“They can’t make up their mind on the period and time they’re going to meet,” said Mr. Kolotkin. “Just last week, a club wanted to move from Thursday to Tuesday, but there’s a club in that room on Tuesday, so we have to find another room, and the advisor can’t meet on Tuesday, so we have to find another advisor.”
There’s no official limit to how many clubs Midwood can have, and students are always welcome if they are creative and passionate. However, for a club to be established, a form that includes questions about the club’s purpose, with a list of three weeks of activities and the names and emails of 20 interested students is required.
Mr. Kolotkin mentioned the importance of collaboration and agreement amongst a club's leaders. In addition to the presidents, there are social media managers, vice presidents, and secretaries. They are all crucial in their own right and have varying responsibilities.
“I create posts, remind people to come to the club, promote the club, and post pictures of activities we do in class,” said Angelina Zheng ‘25, the vice president and social media manager of the Origami Club.
“For each holiday, we will have origami connected to the holiday,” said Zheng. For example, the club folded turkeys for Thanksgiving.
“We hope more people join our club and see it as not just playing with paper but as an art,” said Jene Chen, the club’s president. The DIY-Origami Club meets Wednesdays, Periods 10-11, in Room 471.
If you’re interested in finding a club to join, go to the Midwood High School website (midwoodhighschool.org) and check the “Club Schedule” under “Students.”