For students looking to join an on-campus club or organization, they do not have to look too far. The LCM campus offers several clubs, including: Bear Believers, Interact, Key Club, HOSA, FCCLA, Student Council, and Meet in the Middle. Here is a closer look into each club.
Bear Believers is a club that strives to help everyone love Jesus, have fun, and make talking about Jesus normal. To join, students can just attend one of the meetings. The group usually meets at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday mornings in the lecture hall.
“We are a club of imperfect people on a journey to learn more about how Christ makes us perfect through the shed blood of his son, Jesus,” Bear Believers sponsor Dorothy Briggs said. “We work to discover how to love people like Jesus does and spread the word of Christ love and redemptive power.”
Some of the upcoming events in Bear Believers are See You at the Pole in September and Fields of Faith in October. Breakfast is also provided at most of the Bear Believers meetings.
“(It’s nice) having a group of like-minded people to support you in the best and sometimes worst of times of your life,” Briggs said. “Also, did I mention FOOD!”
Another active club on campus is Interact. The club dues are $20, which includes a T-shirt (if ordered in August). Interact meets in the lecture hall on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7:40 a.m. The club currently has several events planned.
“We are planning to do a service project for the homeless population in September with the Hey You Movement, ” Interact sponsor Jeannie Alexander said.
Interact is a service club under the Rotary umbrella that does one local and one international project every year. Even so, they do many more than that because they enjoy serving and supporting many causes each year.
“Our students are outstanding,” Alexander said. “We have students representing every area of the school that come together to put others above themselves. Our club does not require service hours, so we are able to choose what we want to do without having to get a certain amount of hours.”
Interact encourages their club members to take part by posting on Facebook and Instagram to share what is going on in their club and encourage involvement. They have a Remind app, where they push out all information to members throughout the year. Anyone can sign up by texting @lcmbears24 to 81010. According to Alexander, it is important for students to attend meetings so they can bring ideas and give feedback to the officers. When they have service opportunities, they encourage all members to participate and that is not all the benefits.
“It allows you to network with students from other grades and circles, make new friends, and learn about ways to always be looking around you to identify a need and find a way to meet it,” Alexander said. “As an officer, it gives you leadership skills and experience to take with you into college and life. Interact can open doors for students who have a heart for others.”
Key Club is another on-campus organization that will meet once a month on Tuesday mornings to discuss events and service opportunities. Those wishing to join may get an application from Julie Mashaney in room 134.
“We have not mapped out our calendar yet since I just took over from Mr. Cox,” Mashaney said. “However, we will be working with Blue Santa in December, walking with Kiwanis in the parade in December, and attending a conference in Dallas in the spring. We are hoping to add a pickleball tournament and a beach cleanup into our schedule this year.”
Key Club is a student-led high school organization that strives to make the world a better place through service. In doing so, they grow as individuals and leaders by answering the call to lead, which summons the courage to engage with others and develops hearts to serve.
“Our Key Club is affiliated with The Kiwanis Club, an international philanthropy organization that focuses on supporting the development and health of children,” Mashaney said. “Through service and leadership opportunities, Key Club members truly become a part of their community, forge lasting friendships with one another, and make many professional connections through networking opportunities. Our officers and members are go-getters, idea generators, and generally fantastic people.”
Key Club encourages members by giving them opportunities. Members who attend monthly meetings are entered into gift card drawings and can represent the school at Kiwanis Club meetings where they can network with area professionals. Service hours required for other societies, graduation requirements, or college applications are easy to obtain through key club’s community events nevertheless there are even more benefits.
“As a member of Key Club, you are eligible for scholarships,” Mashaney said. “You have opportunities to meet the leaders of our community as you become a leader yourself. And you get to see the good you create in this world with our service projects. Also – you can help Mrs. Mashaney design our T-shirt so we win YET ANOTHER TROPHY at the Dallas Convention in the spring!”
HOSA is another club on campus, which is geared toward students interested in healthcare. Meetings are the second Thursday of every month in Room 347. They have many upcoming events, one of which was a blood drive held last week.
“HOSA stands for Health Occupations Students of America and is a career and technology student organization (CTSO),” HOSA sponsor Tara Parsons said. “We host 4 blood drives a year. This is really important to us because 25% of the community blood supply comes from local high schools. When the blood supply drops to a critical level, patients are able to get life-saving blood transfusions. In addition to the blood drives, we like to give back to the community. The past two years we have participated in Purple Santa. This is where we buy Christmas gifts for families in our district that might be struggling to make ends meet during the toughest times of the year.”
HOSA is an inclusive group that focuses on future healthcare professionals. They work to develop soft skills that will help their members obtain employment opportunities in the future. HOSA helps their club members participate by encouraging officers to talk to students about HOSA and the benefits of joining.
“HOSA helps build leadership skills and enhance teamwork skills,” Parsons said. “It is a rewarding feeling to be able to give back to the community in multiple ways.”
Another club students may join is FCCLA. To join, students must be enrolled in a Family and Consumer Science class. They meet during second period during class. They will attend a spring conference in February of 2024.
“FCCLA is an organization for students to gain leadership experience and work with other students who have a passion for family, career and community,” FCCLA sponsor Jennifer Seago said.
According to Seago, what makes FCCLA stand out is that they have fun and work together on projects and build each other up when students are preparing for their conference competitions. Even so, there are benefits like leadership and experience they encourage students in many ways.
“Students who are in FCCLA really have great self-motivation and leadership skills, so it makes it easy for me to have them participate,” Seago said.
Student Council is another on-campus service organization that does multiple activities throughout the school year. Those interested in joining Student Council just need to show up to a meeting on the first and third Thursdays of the month before school. This is a hard-working club whose members love to be involved and work as a team. If students have any further questions, they can see Stacey Smith in the activities office. They may also stay up-to-date with activities through the Student Council Instagram: @lcm_student_council
Meet in the Middle is an organization that allows students to work with Team Force. Those interested in joining may see Meet in the Middle sponsor Carlie Ford in room 335.
