The majority of the St. Luke’s student body creates or engages in a school club as an outlet for creativity, camaraderie, leadership, and more. Although these clubs differ in topic, they all emphasize the school motto, “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve.”
The leaders of these student-run organizations foster comfortable, curious, and passionate environments for their members. Leaders of the Sustainability Club, the Chess Club, the Building for Nonprofits Club, and the Mind Matters Club comment on their roles in the school community and achievements thus far.
Why did you want to lead this club? What do you enjoy most about it?
Kelly Neuner ‘24, Co-President of the Mind Matters Club: “During the pandemic, mental illness became much more prevalent across the globe which made me curious about mental health and want to offer my help in some way…I love Mind Matters because it gives us a means to raise awareness for mental health and actively encourage it in our school community.”
Phoebe McCance ‘25, Co-President of the Sustainability Club: “I have always been super passionate about sustainability and believe that it is vital to protect our planet. As a kid, I didn’t have many opportunities to make a significant impact beyond educating others and altering my lifestyle to be more sustainable. However, when I found out that SLS had a club that made real changes within the community, I immediately signed up.”
Rydan Olson ‘25, Co-President of Building for Nonprofits that undertakes different building projects for local nonprofit organizations: “We wanted to Build and we wanted to do it for the greater good. We wanted to give the chance for others to Build as well.”
Laurel Aronian ‘25 Co-President of the Chess Club: “Everyone knows about the cognitive benefits of chess (time management skills, etc.), but few are aware that chess is an easy game to be social—or silently social—something often needed in the school day. The hope was to share these benefits with St. Luke’s and create a chess culture within the school.” Nihaal Kochar ‘24, Co-President of the Chess Club: “Chess Club, at least I believe, excites everyone. This club only a few years ago had four members and I’m glad that it has grown over the years to become a popular place.”
How does the club add to our school community, and what are its main values?
Neuner: “Mind Matters creates a safe space in which any student is welcome to discuss mental health and offer help to those in need. We value educating ourselves on important topics pertaining to mental health, advocating for positive change, being a good listener to anyone who needs it.”
Calum Regan ‘24, Co-President of the Sustainability Club: “The Sustainability Club acts with St. Luke’s mission in mind; this is specifically through the idea of going forth to serve. Everything we do as a club is intended to preserve the viability of our future and help the world we are going to inherit. We seek to be conscious of the importance of our work while making it approachable and inclusive to all. This is all done with an overall focus on introducing sustainability efforts to the community.”
Olson: “We provide an outlet for creative, manual expression through the art of service and craftsmanship. These basic tenets comprise the “Let’s Build” philosophy. We are here to Build and we are here to Serve.”
Aronian: “We offer opportunities for members to give demo lessons, attend service outings, and lead in the school community. Additionally, we make connections with schools from the county, not only through our competitive league matches but also through our service where we teach chess to the public with various instructors from schools in the area.”
Can you talk about the most meaningful projects you have done this year, and how those relate to our broader school community?
Neuner: “One of our most meaningful projects this year was organizing a day for therapy dogs to come and interact with students during club time. We thought this would be a good idea before March exams as we hoped to alleviate some of the stress in our very busy St. Luke’s community.”
Georgi Owsley ‘25, Co-President of the Sustainability Club: “This year for homecoming, we dried and bagged sunflower, cone, cosmo seeds where we sold them and made about $200! We then had a bake sale where we raised close to $400! With this money, we recently ordered 150 mugs, to replace the single-use cups on campus. We are hoping that with this new initiative, we will influence the SLS community to think more about the environment.”
Olson: “We created key holders for children to give as a holiday gift to their parents on behalf of Kids Helping Kids. We Build so that others may receive.”
What can the SLS community look forward to seeing from your club this spring?
Neuner: “This spring, we hope to continue doing more activities that our entire community can participate in, and hope to ease some of your anxiety with end of year assignments. We look forward to more meetings where we bring in the materials to make slime, and we are also excited to partner with some of the organizations that Peyton [Ambrose ‘25, Mind Matters Co-President] connected with at the Kids Helping Kids Hope Day.”
Regan and Owsley: “We’re looking forward to finishing up our reusable mug project and reducing the amount of single-use cups on campus. Additionally, we are looking forward to redeeming all of the collected redeemables for 10 cents per bottle/cup!”
Aronian: “This spring, Chess Club plans to have our annual Intra-Scholastic Chess Tournament, an event open to the entire school (students, faculty, and staff)…Chess Club will also have “Chess Week” in the week before the tournament, a week of exciting chess activities and surprises for the entire school…We’ll also continue to have monthly service opportunities where we teach chess to the public.”
These student leaders’ commitment to service, education, and inclusivity reflects their dedication to our school’s values. Their efforts do not go unnoticed and future projects are eagerly anticipated on the Hilltop.
