Liberty’s clubs: find where you belong

Betsy Faris, News Editor

Art club:
Art club meets every Wednesday morning to work on a group mural and individual projects. It’s a place for art students ranging from beginner to AP art geniuses. Here you get to relax and draw while meeting new people and growing your skills. Art club has a display case outside of art teacher, Anne Cooper’s room to display the hard work the students create for the club. The group also works with different mediums, like watercolors, paints and clay. “I really like being able to calm down and do art at school with people who care about art as much as you do,” senior Gabby Messina said.

Book club:
Every fourth Wednesday, book lovers from Liberty gather to eat donuts and discuss popular literature. Not only do you get donuts, you get first call on all of the new books before they are released to the rest of the library. Despite disbanding in the middle of the school year last year, the club is back with vengeance due to advertisement and the lure of first dibs on new books. “The main goal is to create a community of other readers to discuss books and getting to read new material and be exposed to new literature and grow your reading skills while meeting other readers while doing something you enjoy,” senior Brooke Dicenzo said.

Chess club:
Chess club is a way to improve metacognition and be able to predict what is going to happen in the future of the match, which are important aspects in being good at chess and could help you in school, especially in debates. The chess club learns one lesson each week, and then plays chess matches each day to sharpen skills, striving to beat the top chess player on the board. “My favorite part of chess club is the little moments in between matches where people exchange strategies,” junior Andre Dennis said.

JSA:
JSA stands for Junior State of America and is basically a political debate team. The day starts off with SNL videos and currents events, and then the debates start. They are usually in the form of Socratic seminars and gavel debates on current issues, such as education laws, abortion, capital punishment and same sex bathrooms. JSA also went to fall state, which is a debate convention. “My favorite part of JSA is the different opinions of all of the great people who educate me about the issues in the world,” junior Jessie Spradling said.

Model United Nations:
Model UN focuses on learning how to debate from an opinion that you’re not familiar with, such as the viewpoint of China instead of the United States. Filled with parliamentary procedures, Socratic seminars and position papers, Model UN encompasses what it takes to be able to think on your feet and from a solid argument. The club is working on going to PACMUN, which is a conference based on a given debate topic. The club meets every Monday. “My favorite part of the club is the parliamentary debates because it tests your skills to adapt to different ideas and opinions,”junior Garrett Waters said.

Ping Pong Club:
Meet new people and grow your ping pong skills every Monday afternoon at 2:30. After 15 minutes of warming up, the club splits into divisions and play each other until one person emerges as the top player, earning a spot on Levels infamous ping pong wall. Ping pong club is currently fundraising for their club by hosting a whiffle ball tournament, costing 20 dollars for each team to participate. “My favorite part is the natural competition of the sport,” Junior Andrew Bui said.