New clubs climb their way to the top
Environmental and ‘Rock On Climbing’ clubs now official
Senior Maggie Deforge leads first Rock On Climbing club meeting Oct. 13. Meetings will continue every Thursday at 7:45 a.m.
October 13, 2022
This school year, students at Park have been encouraged to create new clubs to build community within the school. Two new clubs established this year are the Environmental club and the Rock On Climbing club.
When sophomore Karen Dworsky returned to the high school this year, she said she couldn’t help but notice the poor ecological care within the school.
“A lot of things at our school are not environmentally friendly,” Dworsky said.
Environmental club advisor Alan Wachutka said the same club existed until COVID-19 hit.
“Five or six years ago, pre-COVID-19, we had a pretty strong group which was all student led,” Wachutka said. “Then COVID-19 hit and the club ended, so it was really exciting this year to have students approach me saying that they wanted to start the Environmental club again.”
At the club’s first meeting Sept. 23, Dworsky said they discussed goals they wanted to set for the future of the club.
“We want to work with elementary schools so we can get younger kids interested in environmental care,” Dworsky said.
Dworsky said the Environmental club hopes that by going to elementary schools, the club can continue on, even after its presidents have graduated.
“We want kids to be interested in it once they get to high school so they can keep the club going once we leave.” Dworsky said.
Another club introduced this year is the Rock On Climbing club, led by seniors Sam Coggan and Maggie Deforge. Coggan said the idea sparked over the summer after going to the Minneapolis Bouldering Project (MBP).
“We started going to MBP over the summer all the time, so that’s kind of what gave us the idea,” Coggan said.
Deforge said she wants students to join the Rock On Climbing club so they can find new hobbies and meet new people.
“We’re building a community — it’s a new hobby that can interest a lot of different people and it’s a chance to learn new things,” Deforge said.
More information on the Environmental club and Rock On Climbing club is available on their Instagram pages @environmentalclub_slp and @slprockonclimbingclub.
