Clubs are a great way to meet new friends to start the new year. 

On Friday, Sept. 8, La Salle held its annual club fair during Flex Time. During this time, students were able to walk on the track and visit club stands where they could sign up if interested through a Google Form. Once students visited all the clubs, they could go on the field to enjoy some games like cornhole and spikeball with friends. 

Director of Community and Student Leadership Ms. Adriana Noesi and the leadership class made it their mission to plan the club fair for early in the year. To make this happen over the summer, Ms. Noesi and senior Jack Gill met to discuss plans and requirements for the clubs. Once school started, a committee was formed to oversee more of the fair’s progress. 

The reason for the club fair to happen early in the year was so that “people should have the opportunity to join clubs as early as possible and find their people,” Ms. Noesi said. She and the leadership team have also aimed to make sure everyone knows about the clubs this year. They also “really want people to find community and shared interests,” Ms. Noesi said. 

The clubs La Salle offers are broken up into four categories: affinity groups, academic clubs, overnight experiences, and social clubs. This year, there are 34 clubs offered, and The Falconer met with the majority of the club leaders to learn more about their clubs. 

Affinity Groups: 

Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI): This group focuses on celebrating and exploring Asian culture while having fun. During this year, the AAPI wants to have some potlucks and celebrate Lunar New Year.

Black Student Union (BSU): Over the course of this school year, the BSU wants to accomplish having more unity and inclusion within the Black community at La Salle. Some events the BSU is planning to have this year is to help members with completing their service hours and having an activity during Black History Month. 

Middle Eastern Student Union (MESU): The MESU has been active for multiple years and would like to keep the prominent culture around the school and have fun. One of the goals the club has is to spread their culture to the Lasallian community. 

Multicultural Affinity Group: This club is for anyone of any background, as it’s a safe space to share your culture and learn about others through cultural activities. 

Native American Affinity Group: The Native American Affinity Group is for all people, where you can make community, enjoy food and games, and talk about current events going on in the world.

Unidos: Unidos is excited for events this year like celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. They hope more people within the community will be involved this year so it can grow. 

Pride Alliance: The Pride Alliance is all about supporting gender equality and building an inclusive community for everyone. 

Our Disability Identity: This affinity group is a safe place for all, where you can talk about your struggles and be supported by others. In this club, they will also discuss how to change the thought and culture around learning disabilities. 

Academic Clubs:

Science Olympiad: In this group you’ll be practicing from October to January to then compete in competitions in the spring. As a team, they will be competing in three different events: knowledge events, lab-based events, and build events.

Robotics Team: The robotics club is also known as Maker Industries. In this team, they will build robots and hopefully compete in the First Tech Challenges once they get a staff advisor. 

Makers Club: This club takes place in the Innovation and Design Center (IDC) where people can create projects freely in order to express themselves. Within this school year, the club wants to expand the participation in the IDC to everyone.

Oregon Battle of the Books: OBOB is where there is a designated list of books to read, and then members compete by answering questions about the books against other teams. 

Speech and Debate: Social Studies teacher Mr. Michael Doran is also the Speech and Debate coach. The team competes in tournaments where they have to write speeches and presentations to recite in front of judges for different speaking events. 

Writing Club: As writing can be intimidating to some, the writing club is here to bring people together through writing while also learning different skills. 

Overnight Experiences:

Moab Utah: In the spring, senior students are invited to go on a week-long trip to Moab, Utah. For more information contact English Teacher, Mr. Paul Dreisbach.

Harvard Model Congress: This is a four day conference in Boston where students role play being a part of Congress. They are given a role and then a current issue to discuss within a committee. After that, they go through all the steps of trying to turn their bill into a law. For more information, reach out to social studies teacher, Mr. Alex Lanaghan. 

Social Clubs: 

Fiber Arts: This club is for everything string. Every 2-3 weeks, sophomore Tabitha Obuchowski, gives a tutorial on how to make an art project; it could be keychains, hats, or a craft related to a cultural event or holiday coming up. 

Dungeons and Dragons: The DND club is about having fun and gathering as a community, while also playing the classic role play game, Dungeons and Dragons. 

Griddle Club: On late-start mornings twice a month, the griddle club will show up to watch movies and make food from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. 

Keeping the Faith: The Keeping the Faith club accepts anyone from any religious background to discuss religious topics and also give back to the community through service. 

Ski Team: La Salle’s ski team is a club where you’ll be able to go up on the mountain and compete with the goal to make it to state again. This is a club, though, so it is not sponsored by La Salle. 

Twin Club: The twin club is not just for twins as anyone can join it. During their meetings, they like to hang out and watch movies like “The Parent Trap”.  

Chicks and Flicks: Chicks and Flicks is a community that will talk and discuss movies and TV shows. 

Chess Club: The chess club will be studying openings and playing chess while striving to have fun with their group’s community.

Women’s Health and Fitness: This club focuses on body positivity within our school for women. They want to help make the gym a less intimidating place where people can exercise confidently. 

Boardwalk: The boardwalk club is about playing all different kinds of board games and then going for a walk. 

International Thespian Society: ITS is a theater club where they hang out, make the theater a better place, and sometimes plan fundraising events. 

Cooking Club: The cooking club will meet once or twice a week to bake fun treats and meals that correspond with the season. In the group, members will get to listen to music and learn new and fun recipes, which will then be added to the group’s recipe book.  

Tea-riffic: This club is one big fun tea party with tea, snacks, and even Kahoots about fun tea facts. 

CommuniCare: This club is all about giving back to the community and service. As a group, they find an issue they care about, fundraise for it, and then work to donate the money.

Boys Volleyball: Senior Tyler Smith wants to introduce boys volleyball to La Salle and the club’s goal is to create some team bonding, exercise, and maybe a state championship. 

Ginger Student Union: The ginger student union gathers in order to relate to one another and discuss the stereotypes that come with being a redhead. All hair colors are welcome as it’s an inclusive club focused on supporting the community through service.

Lifting Club: The lifting club wants to focus on teaching people the correct form for lifting, possible diets, and how to compete in powerlifting. 

Women’s Empowerment: The focus for the women’s empowerment club is to make La Salle feel more inclusive and equitable for all people.