On Thursday, La Salle had its annual club fair, where leaders had the opportunity to showcase each of their clubs with decorated poster boards and treats to attract new members.

There were a variety of snacks offered at the club fair, with many stands offering candy and students having the opportunity to receive school-provided cookies for visiting three club stands. “The cookies and the little stations and forms, all of it was done super well,” senior and president of the Dungeons and Dragons Club Charlie Dougherty said. 

La Salle’s affinity clubs were represented by student leaders at the fair, which some see as a great opportunity to feel welcome, included, and connected with people who have similar identities within the La Salle community.

“It’s nice to be in a safe community where we all share one identity,” senior Raphael De Leon and co-president of the Asian American and Pacific Islander club said. “And we can understand each other and what we go through.”

Junior and co-president of the Pride Alliance Ezra Moody said he suggests that those who are new to clubs should first try out one of La Salle’s affinity groups because of the likelihood of finding a fitting group of people. “If you want to join something that helps correlate with your identity and meet people that probably have similar identities with you, join an affinity group because it’ll allow you to relate to other people who may seem lost,” Moody said.

Not only being a way to connect with others of the same identity, but affinity clubs are also thought by some students to help the school have a more inclusive environment all around and give minority groups the opportunity to be recognized by sharing pieces of themselves with the community. “The impact our club wants to do is to help make it known that we’re small, but we’re here and we want to share our culture with more people,” senior and co-president of the Unidos club Cassie Ramirez said.

Alongside affinity clubs, there are also more outside-the-box club concepts at La Salle, like the Griddle club, where members gather before school on late start days to make and eat breakfast. “It’d just be a really fun thing to do in the morning, getting to eat food with friends and stuff,” senior Marieka Kaufman said. 

Freshman Rowan Palmer said that he thoroughly enjoyed the club fair and joined VARKS (Visual Auditory Reading/Writing, Kinesthetic, and So much more), the Swim Club, and the Earth Club. 

“There’s tons of different clubs you can join,” Palmer said. “There’s so much variety to choose from.” However, in the future, “I would really like to see clubs that are more like academic support clubs,” he said. “Where anyone can come and just do homework.”

VARKS is a new club this year that supports people with learning differences. “It’s really a place for people to hang out together, get to know each other, feel comfortable, and then maybe eventually start to change the culture around learning differences,” counselor Ms. Michelle Berry said.

With COVID-19 restrictions lessening over the past year, some clubs are hoping to have more freedom to do more food-centric activities this year. “Sometimes we do banquets,” De Leon said. “And it was harder to do during COVID and stuff, but we should try to do that this year.” 

Banquets and food are only one of the things people are excited for. Many students and club leaders have been looking forward to the many other opportunities this year to do fun activities. Here is a comprehensive list of all the clubs that are at La Salle:

• First Aid/CPR
• Book Club
• Oregon Battle of the Books
• International Thespians Honor Society
• Pride Alliance
• Moab Trip 2023
• FTC Robotics- Maker Industries Team #4511
• Unidos
• Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, Kinesthetic, and So much more – Learning Differences Club (VARKS)
• Lasallian Youth Communicare and Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA)
• Swim Team
• DIY Your Life
• Griddle Club
• Maker Club
• Griddle Club
• Computing Club
• Earth Club
• Harvard Model Congress
• Black Student Union (BSU)
• Journey 85
• Native American Student Union
• Asian American and Pacific Islander Club (AAPI)
• Dungeons and Dragons Club (DnD)
• Keeping the Faith Club
• Peer Tutor Program
• Board Game and Magic Card Club
• Middle Eastern Affinity Club