To bookend this school year, the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) will be having a barbecue to celebrate the beginning of summer on May 20, according to club member and event coordinator Dayna Krause.

“I invited all of the GSA members to a celebration (at my house) for the two seniors who are graduating, Elise and Tehya,” Krause said. “Everyone’s going to bring different food and we’re going to do some fun activities. I have Badminton at my house and we’re going to probably have a water fight.”

According to club adviser Kyle Sweeney, GSA’s biggest challenge this year was an effort to pass a district-wide Gender Inclusion Policy. Sweeney said the policy failed to pass at a recent School Board meeting April 24.

“It’s a bit of a disappointment that kind of like our biggest push for something, the Gender Inclusion Policy, happened at the end of the year and that there’s no action being taken,” Sweeney said. “That’s a disappointment.”

Although upset with the School Board’s decision surrounding the Gender Inclusion Policy, Sweeney said club members remained positive.

“When we met after (the Gender Inclusion Policy School Board meeting), people were in good spirits (and) they’re going to have (this) end of the year barbecue to celebrate the year,” Sweeney said.

Freshman GSA member Euan Lim said he is looking forward to barbecuing with the other club members.

“I’m excited for the (barbeque) because I don’t get to see the other members of the GSA very often, because we only share a couple classes (and) some are seniors,” Lim said.

While she’s glad the club will bond at the upcoming barbecue, Krause said she’s upset the seniors will be leaving after this year.

“It’s a little sad for me to see the seniors go because they’re both really nice people,” Krause said.

Club president Elise Bargman said she’s looking forward to spending time with her fellow club members at the barbeque.

“We’ve had a good year,” Bargman said. “I really love everyone and I’m looking forward to having one last hoorah as a group.”

Reflecting on the past year, freshman club member Euan Lim said the GSA has been a great way to connect with individuals like himself and he recommends students interested in GSA join in the coming fall.

“The school I went to last year was really small and we didn’t have a GSA, so going to GSA (at Park) has been really awesome because I get to meet other LGBTQ+ people, hear their stories and talk about other LGBTQ+ issues like representation in the media,” Lim said.

According to Krauss, the barbecue celebration will take place at her house May 20.