This Nov., Park added a lettuce-eating club to its list of student-led activities. The lettuce-eating club meets to explore and enjoy different types of lettuce and appreciate good company.
Club advisor Evelyn Bird said the lettuce-eating club was formed because a student of hers wanted to find a way to build unity. She said lettuce would be an odd and intriguing idea that people would be interested in exploring.
“(President) Hannah (Levitt) approached me and said we should find ways to build community and pride in the school, and that lettuce was a great way to do it,” Bird said. “Because nobody has anything against lettuce. Everybody can buy into it, and it’s such an absurd idea that people will be interested in it based on that alone.”
Junior Hannah Levitt said she came up with the idea to form Park’s lettuce-eating club after learning about the University of Minnesota’s lettuce-eating club, which is a competition, and seeing other high school lettuce-eating clubs. According to Levitt, lettuce isn’t a costly vegetable, which will make it easier to attract more people.
“The University of Minnesota has a competitive lettuce-eating club and a bunch of other high schools around the country have more casual and social lettuce-eating clubs,” Levitt said. “(Lettuce is) on the cheaper side, so it’s more bang for my buck and more people that we can bring into the club.”
Sophomore Riley Burger said they chose to join the lettuce-eating club because they had lots of friends who were also joining. They said they like lettuce and thought it would be the best of both worlds.
“I knew a lot of my friends were gonna be in (the club), so I thought it would be a cool hangout,” Burger said. “I also like lettuce, so it sounded like a win-win situation.”
According to Bird, having a social space outside of a person’s work is significant for their well-being. She said this club is a great opportunity for students to hang out for fun in a non-stressful way.
“In the current era that we live in, there’s been a death of third spaces, you either go to school or you go to work, and that’s it,” Bird said. “I think it’s important, especially for young people, to have a space where they can just hang out and not feel like they’re there for any particular reason other than to just enjoy each other’s company, and I think this is a good environment for it.”
Burger said they hope to find a positive social environment in the club. According to them, they wish to meet new friends as well.
“(I hope to) get more people to come so we can all have a nice hangout together and meet new people,” Burger said. “(I also want) free food and potentially new friends (to come out of the club).”
According to Levitt, she wants to foster a community where people can make new friends outside a strictly school environment. She said many students are unintentionally exclusive with the people they hang out with, and the lettuce-eating club will provide a way to expand their social circles.
“My goals for this club are to create an open community that allows people to make new friends, casually outside of school (even though the club is in school),” Levitt said. “It’s beneficial because at this school, we get too cliquey sometimes, even when we’re trying not to be, and we need something fun to separate ourselves from that.”
The lettuce-eating club meets every other Friday from 3:15 to 3:45 in room C359.
