Clubs at Cary Grove are a fun after-school experience to expand your horizons and bond with other students who have similar interests. Whether you’re in CVC club, French club or any of the other amazing clubs at C-G, you can attest to the positive experiences you’ve had in them. You’ve most likely heard of Yearbook club and Better Buddies, but what about the ones you haven’t discovered yet?

Book club is a way to re-discover the joys of reading outside of school, because required reading is often dreaded and avoided by students. Sponsored by Mr. Mack and meeting in C25 on Tuesdays after school, it’s the perfect way to meet and socialize with other book-lovers. Students choose a book to read for the month and discuss their progress and opinions on said book.

Isabella Smith, a senior and lover of books, says there’s a strong sense of community in the club. “I can tell that everyone is friends with each other, or at least good acquaintances.”

Co-leader of the club, Calea Sowell, says engagement can range anywhere from twenty to five people. “I like the community of nerds, and finding people who like to debate about the meanings of books. It’s a fun time to have discussing and eating snacks.” She also says, “It’s a way to make new friends. It‘s also just a fun time for people who love books to discuss them with other people.”

Poetry club is another language arts-based club with a passionate cult following at Cary Grove. It’s a great outlet to let out some teenage angst in a constructive manner and release your inner beatnik. Mrs. Montgomery sponsors it, and meetings are held on Monday afternoons in C17.

Sophomore Sara Coleman comments on the goings-on of the club. “Each week we have a prompt that’s supposed to get us inspired to write our own poetry. Prompts can include poetry about what we would say to our future children, and poetry about space and other celestial topics that we like to call ‘astropoetry.’ When we’re done with that, we can present for everyone and get feedback. It’s a really chill experience and there’s not a lot of pressure. It’s very flexible in that manner. Poetry club is a nice place to escape and be yourself.”

Another academic-based club, History club, is often overlooked as well. Led by Mrs. Stonebraker and Mrs. Huff and meeting on Wednesday mornings in E05, it’s a great way to enrich your knowledge of history. Come for the community and charismatic club leaders, stay for the history lesson.

Junior Lee Anderson says, “We do a lot of projects. We just finished up one on the Holocaust. We spent probably three weeks researching about the Warsaw ghetto uprising. We’ve mostly balanced between projects about history this year. It’s mostly America-based, but there are some other cultures sprinkled in.” Anderson later states, “Everyone is super nice, and I love Mrs. Stonebraker. I’m willing to wake up fifteen minutes early to hang out with Mrs. Stonebraker.

Girls Learn International, better known as GLI, meets in the mornings as well. It’s held every other Friday morning in C17, and is sponsored by Mrs. Wadlington. The club focuses on female empowerment and helping women near and far. The club is tight-knit and members help each other grow and reach their full potential.

Club leader Teagan Jones says, “We do stuff to make sure we are being strong women. The club isn’t limited to just including women, though. The platform of the club allows is to take action and support those in our community and around the world.”

And, if you’re looking to join newspaper club, stop by D17 on Mondays after school! It’s a rewarding and easy way to gain journalism experience for fun or to prepare you for a career in journalism. We’re always looking for new members and a fresh perspective on a plethora of topics. It’s a low-commitment way to improve your writing and media skills, and maybe gain a few friends in the process.