September 28, 2023
NCLA Clubs
By: Emily Holland
The NCLA has quite a few new clubs this year, and they all look fantastic. A new rule has been put in place to ensure all clubs meet on Fridays or after school. This means your teachers are available Monday through Thursday for second lunch tutoring.
The clubs at the NCLA include book club, FCF (Fellowship of Christian Falcons), pep band, D&D (Dungeons and Dragons), quiz bowl club, and Falcon Funk.
Let’s take a closer look at the clubs, one at a time. First up is pep band! Pep Band is a mini band that plays at basketball and even some soccer games. Pep band is directed by Mrs. Katelyn Ryder and does not have a student leader.
I asked Mrs. Ryder what her favorite part about having pep band was and she said, “I like how it’s an opportunity for students who couldn’t fit band in their schedule a chance to play.” Pep band is an amazing opportunity to play. In addition to Mrs. Ryder, I talked to a student in pep band, Mattie Tyson. They said, “My favorite part is that I get to play new pieces for the NCLA games.” I also asked them both what instrument they played for it, to which Ryder said she is going to play either the barrie sax or piccolo, and Tyson said she is playing the Clarinet.
The book club is a club that reads a book each month and discusses it. For the book club I got the chance to interview Finley Foust. I asked her 3 questions about it, the first one being why she wanted to be a part of the book club, to which she said “I wanted to be a part of book club because I love discussing books I enjoy with my friends!”
I also asked what they did in book club, to which she said, “In book club we vote on the book we want to read for the next month, and then each meeting we talk about our thoughts on it.” And lastly I asked what her favorite part about book club was, she said, “My favorite part about book club is the community of people it creates.” This sounds like an amazing club for book lovers.
Our third club we’ll be looking at is FCF, which stands for Fellowship of Christian Falcons. This club is for our falcons who are Christian. For this club I got a chance to speak to and interview the sponsor, Mrs Saunders! I asked her what made her want to sponsor this club, to which she told me, “I have been a faculty sponsor for Fellowship of Christian Falcons since its inception in 2019-2020.
It was started by my oldest daughter, Lydia, and her friend Titus when they were seniors. It began as a Fellowship of Christian Athletes club, since NCLA had no Bible or Christian club at that time. I was honored to kick it off then and feel the same to sponsor it now. The club aligns with my personal beliefs and it’s extremely rewarding to see positive growth in our club members and student leaders.”
Our fourth club is D&D. For this club I got to interview the sponsor and a student leader, Mrs. Weikert and Kimberly Mead, respectively. I asked them both what they liked about this club and Mrs. Weikert told me, “It’s interactive, and builds community and creates a setting where you talk about stuff you normally don’t talk about.” While Mead said that “I like getting the chance to hang out with everyone and getting to know people in different grade levels and have fun with the game.”
I also asked what she liked about this club and she said, “I love that FCF equips students as peer leaders, and that anyone is welcome, whether they are a “Christian” or not. Our core group of 9 student leaders sign up to take turns leading each meeting. I approve their outline and they gain public speaking skills and confidence. We always have a good time, and students leave feeling challenged and encouraged.”
I asked what they did in FCF, and she explained that, “Each meeting has a fun activity or game that ties in with a short devotion and is wrapped up with prayer. Every September we meet for ‘See You At The Pole’ to pray around our flagpole for the school and our country. Around Valentine’s we host a service event, and we always end the year with a party meeting of snacks and games.” This club sounds like an amazing opportunity for Christian falcons.
Photo Credits: Andrew Ellis
I also asked Mrs Weikert what made her want to sponsor this club, to which she said that, “I was asked. I hosted one before and I know how to play it.” I asked Mead what made her want to be a student leader of this club, to which she said, “I enjoy playing the game and I remember past seniors talking about how it got discontinued so I wanted to bring it back.”
Our fifth club we’ll be looking at is the quiz bowl club, directed by Mr. Hartzell. I asked him “What made you want to run this club?” to which he replied with, “I enjoy trivia and watching Jeopardy and previously coached a quiz bowl club at my last school.” I also asked, “What do you do in the Quiz Bowl Club?” He said, “We mostly practice the style of questions called NAQT.” NAQT is an acronym and means National Academic Quiz Tournaments.
Our sixth and final club is the Falcon Funk, run by Dr. Pisapia! I asked him, “What is the Falcon Funk about?” and he explained that, “The main purpose is to get students together and listen to styles of music they don’t normally play, like Jazz and Funk, and try to play it.” When asked why he wanted to start the club, Pisapia said, “I grew up in New Jersey with strong music programs and playing sax and jazz music.” His favorite part about Falcon Funk is, “To challenge the students to play by ear and have fun.” I enjoy the idea of this club and the fact that it’s music that students don’t normally play!