At Park students have the opportunity to participate in bouldering through the Rock On club. It is mainly student-led, and is advised by language arts teacher Callie Hefstad. They meet every Friday morning to plan upcoming climbs, play games and get to know each other.
Junior Paige Descarpentrie is the leader of the rock climbing club. She said her favorite part of the rock climbing team is doing what she loves while creating a community of people.
“My favorite part is that it’s so fun to do and one of my favorite things,” Descarpentrie said. “Personally, it’s one of my favorite hobbies so I love being able to introduce it to new people and create a community.”
Hefstad said her favorite part of the rock climbing club is all the people who are excited to rock climb, and the community it has built at Park.
“I do love the fact that there are students who are excited about climbing, and I think climbing is something that’s very much about community,” said Hefstad. “This club is a lot about building community around a common interest.”
Freshman Izzy Woodstrom was introduced to the club by her sibling and found the climbing session to be enjoyable, sparking her interest in the club.
“My older brother was in the club and he brought me to a climbing session once, and I thought it was really fun,” said Woodstrom. “A lot of the people in the club are really nice so I decided to join this year.”
Hefstad said she became advisor of the club because she has an interest in rock climbing, and when two students asked her to join she was very excited.
“Two of the students went on the Euro trip with me this past summer, Paige and Alex, and they needed an advisor,” said Hefstad. “They asked me and I was really interested because I love rock climbing and I love talking about it. I’m excited to be with students who are also excited about it.”
Descarpentrie said people should join the rock climbing club because it is a fun environment and you don’t even need skills in rock climbing to join or have fun!
“Everybody should join rock climbing club because it’s super, super fun. You don’t have to have any experience in climbing. You don’t necessarily have to climb if you don’t want to,” said Descarpentrie. “We play games and watch movies about climbing, and we have snacks every meeting. It’s very fun.”
