By: Julia Xia, Features Editor
Thursday, September 7, was the annual club fair during lunch. The fair aimed to advertise the new or returning clubs here at Mills.
One of the new clubs at Mills is the Linguistics Club, created by Amelia Naughten (10) and Ian Lin (10). The Linguistics club centers around making students passionate about learning new languages and linguistics. “To fully understand your own language, you first have to be open to learning about the diverse cultures around us, and that is what the Linguistics club aims to do.”
The club mainly focuses on activities centering around language structure composition, as well as tips for new learners. However, that is not all the club does; when joining it, you get to choose the language you are passionate about and start learning it.
In their pursuit of spreading their love of languages, the Linguistics Club also plans on setting up outreach programs. One idea the club has is to create a program at the local library; it would be a weekly program where club members teach elementary school kids snippets of languages in order to expose them to different languages and cultures—and then provide any interested students with the resources to continue learning the language.
The Linguistics Club also plans to expand its services to the Mills community by holding free language tutoring sessions before finals week for students interested in better preparing themselves for the test.
The club meets during lunch every Wednesday in Ms. Canas’ room (123). To learn more, follow the club’s Instagram page at mhs.linguistics.
Another new club at Mills is the Spreading Joy Club; the club presidents are Alexis Ivankov, a sophomore, and Nathan Vazquez, a junior. A while back, Alexis was talking with his friend about her stay in the hospital after she pointed out that the worst part of the ordeal was how boring it was—spending all of her time bedridden and having nothing to occupy her with. Her story inspired him to gather a few of his close friends to create the Spreading Joy Club.
Their main goal for the club is to start fundraisers to raise money for kids in hospitals, making money to provide them with entertainment, such as toys to make their stay more enjoyable and less of a bore. The club plans on meeting every second and fourth Tuesday of the month in Ms. Reyes’s room (221). To learn more about their club, follow their Instagram at spreading.joy_.
The Southeast Asian Club is also a new addition to Mills High School. Jazlyn Luken, a freshman at Mills, created the club to spread awareness and appreciation for Asian countries and cultures that are not as well known to students. The Southeast Asian club’s goal is to create a safe space to learn about countries’ rich cultures. Not only that, but Luken also plans to host fundraisers to raise money for fun activities. One way he plans to do this is by participating in the food fairs, selling food unique to Southeast Asian cultures, “If it’s not spicy, it’s not good.”
When you join the club, you will get the opportunity to learn and share about the many cultures in Southeast Asia. It is a wonderful chance to expand your horizons and knowledge about the world we all live in. The club meets in room 115 every Monday during lunch. To find out more about this club, follow southeast_asain_club_mhs on Instagram.
Another club new to Mills is the Pilotage and Mentorship Club, founded by its co-presidents, Vanessa Liu (11) and Elizabeth Bours (11). The club’s focus is empowering the first-year students at Mills. Looking back at her previous years in school, she realized she missed many opportunities to prepare herself better for the years to come.
Now that she is a junior with more knowledge of the extracurricular activities at this school, she wishes that, with her fellow upperclassmen, she can help the freshmen thrive at Mills. The Pilotage and Mentorship Club will pair an upperclassman with an underclassman and act as a mentor for them, providing valuable insight, advice, and resources to help the underclassman with their first year of high school.
“I believe that students with role models, such as older siblings, gain a slight advantage in terms of knowledge and readiness. We aim to bridge this gap and ensure that high school becomes a fulfilling experience for all students.” The club plans on hosting meets whenever necessary on Tuesdays in room 125. To find out more about this club, follow their Instagram at mshpilotage.
One club that, while not new, was recently restarted with new members is the Mills Dragon Boat Club. The president of this club is Michael Poniente, a senior who created the club to show appreciation and passion for the lesser-known sport–Dragon Boat.
Dragon Boat racing is a water sport where a group of racers paddle in a canoe-like boat shaped like a dragon. Originating in China, people would race across rivers in Southern China to bring good luck to the upcoming crop season. The Dragon Boat Club at Mills plans on learning about the sport and participating in it with the team called the Oyster Point Dragons.
The team will also participate in local, national, and international races. By joining the team, you build strong relationships with your members and learn about teamwork. Club members will train for these races throughout the year, with practices being held on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
“Reach for the stars, plant new goals, and drive to succeed.”
If you are interested in the club, they meet every other Friday in room 309 during lunch. To learn more, follow their Instagram at mhs_dragonboat.
All of these new clubs are more than happy to welcome new members interested in their causes and expand over the years!
