Inspired by events and trends, students found new clubs

DearAsianYouth

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, hate crimes against Asian-American and Pacific Islander skyrocketed across the country. 

Seeing the seriousness of this issue, juniors Jasmine Ispasoiu, Alex Pak, Vivian Wang and Ally Tan founded an on-campus chapter of a club called DearAsianYouth as a response. 

The school’s DearAsianYouth is one of many chapters of an organization by the same name founded by a Southern Californian high school student in 2020 looking for a platform to publish her poetry. 

The school’s DearAsianYouth club looks to uplift all Asian people across the school, Ispasoiu said. Through engaging with Asian creators, with activities like reading books written by Asian writers, they hope to increase social and political engagement within the Asian community. They have over 20 members and meet regularly in English teacher Meg Battey’s room. Among other topics, they have discussed the mental health stigma in the AAPI community. 

Ispasoiu also hopes to collaborate with the school’s Book Club in order to donate books to underprivileged Asian communities, as well as advocating for a section in the library where Asian authors are highlighted. 

“Our goal is to create a safe space for all Asians,” Tan said. “It really inspired us to involve all our creative outlets into this club.” 

Females for Finance

Females for Finance is also a chapter of a larger organization founded in Yale University this past summer that aims to close the gender gaps in the financial world starting at the high school level. According to their Instagram page, they hope to bridge the “inequalities in the financial industry by providing highschool girls with a foundation in financial literacy, investment, and the necessary skills to build a career in the financial industry.” 

Created by juniors Samantha Stroiber, Elizabeth Stroiber,  Eva Ruemmler, Shreya Rallabandi, Noor Khan and Rosie Kline, Females for Finance focuses on cultivating financial literacy among students and closing the gap in participation in finance between men and women. 

Club meetings consist of basic coverage of managing and earning money for oneself rather than as a potential career. 

“I don’t actually plan to go into finance as a career,” Stoiber said. “This is just something that I’m interested in.”

Through teaching lessons about taxes, interest rates, loans and debt, they look to provide students practical and fundamental knowledge on personal finance.

“Even though the club is mainly targeted towards female students, we encourage everyone to attend our meetings,” Stoiber said. “I hope this club is a place where people feel comfortable [learning] about finance.”

Garden Club

Inspired by the pre-existing Garden Club at Redwood Middle School, freshman Manlin Zhang, Shraddha Raghunath, Arthur Gabrilovich and Connie Chen founded the Garden Club. The club provides a place for students to socialize while maintaining the school’s garden, which is located next to the 200 wing. 

Along with growing plants and vegetables, the officers’ goal is to bring more greenery to campus with a variety of flowers and herbs. 

“The Garden Club is a place where you and your friends can go and relax and reconnect with nature,” Chen said. “It’s really satisfying to see what once was a small seed transform into a blooming flower.”