Article written by Payton Ross and Alayna Weber
This article was published in the Trimester 1 issue of the Riverbend Times, Riverbend's student newspaper. Students can access the issue on Canvas in 7th/8th Grade Central.
This year at Riverbend there are several new clubs: Happy Clip Co., Photography Club and Community Service Club.
Happy Clip Co. is a club for people to spread kindness. A student came up with the idea and asked P.E. Coach Melanie Missey and to sponsor the club. Missey said that she wanted to help spread positivity and kindness around the school.
Club members decorate wooden clothespins with positive words or quotes on them. They then try to “clip” other students, keeping their identities a secret so people don’t know who is spreading this positivity. Missey enjoys doing crafts with her son at home.
This club meets every Friday. Missey feels it’s a good thing to do especially with what kids are watching on YouTube these days.
“I feel like there is a lot of negativity in the world, so positivity is always a good thing to have all the time,” Missey said.
Every time the club meets, they try to have a goal in mind to spread positivity. A recent goal was to find a kid who seemed down and try to put the clip on a backpack or jacket to help cheer them up. Students try to “clip” different kids each time.
Photography Club is for students to take pictures and have fun. This club was started at the request of a student and is sponsored by 8th-grade ELA teacher Genetta Tomnitz-Sucher. The club meets every other club day.
Students take pictures on their phone or camera if they have one at home, whether it’s a 35-millimeter or instant. Topics for photos in the future include pets, selfies, holidays, and nature.
Personally, Tomnitz-Sucher enjoys taking pictures for weddings, senior pictures, or nature photos. The club was open to 7th and 8th-grade students and required a permission slip.
Community Service Club is a club where students can do something nice for the school.
The club started with the Exploring Community Service students asking teacher Mark Mulligan to sponsor the club.
The current activity in this club is sports. In the past, they’ve hosted basketball, t-ball and flag football. Mulligan is looking forward to second and third trimesters when the students choose a new theme. The club meets every Friday.
Mulligan said he personally enjoys community service and thinks it’s a good way to give kids opportunities.