Do you want to get more involved at Pentucket? Do you have the time? Are any of the clubs even interesting? You might have heard (or thought) of these questions throughout your time in high school, so I am here today to help answer them. Below I have catalogued twenty-three of the clubs and teams you can join at Pentucket. Enjoy!

Art Club

Advisor: Ms. Nadeau

Benefits: 

• It has a welcoming environment where everyone is encouraged to be themselves.
• You can either learn more about art or show others your art; it is a fun group to be with. 
• “It’s okay to contrast with others, and we will celebrate one another’s accomplishments.”

Number of members: There are around 10-12 high school students.

When they meet: Generally on Thursdays after school, but it could be more frequent as needed.

Commitments: Everyone is always welcome; you can come when you can. The times are very flexible, but if you say you will commit to a project, please follow through.

Projects they are/ will be working on:

• Terror trail- Sponsored by the Pentucket Arts Foundation, the club is creating a mural for that event.
• Groveland Fire Department- The club is designing large wooden signs that advertise Turkey Night. 
• Kitty Cat Cafe- the club designs and paints “cat condos” for the nonprofit.

Jazz band/ Big Band

Interviewee: Jonah Brien

Advisor: Mr. Shumacher

Benefits: “You learn music theory- the science behind music.”

Drawbacks: It’s harder to get into/ pick up, and you must have at least some previous knowledge of your instrument.

Number of members: In Jazz Combo there are four, but in Big Band, there are 15-20 people.

When they meet: Jazz Combo, Tuesdays and Thursdays (2:30-4) and for Big Band only Thursdays (4-5:30).

Commitments: You have to play at concerts. 

Surf and Service 

Student Leader: Jillian Gavin

Advisor: Mr. Harty

Benefits: It counts toward community service hours.

Number of members: It’s very popular, around 105 people.

When they meet: On weekends in the morning from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. or 9 a.m. to 11a.m.

Commitments: She said that it is “Very flexible; you can show up or leave at any time.”

Facts: Democratically run, and they might start working together with the environmental club. 

Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

Advisor: Mark Dziedziak 

Benefits: All projects are created and driven by the student participants.

Number of members: 20

When they meet:  ADL Peer Leaders will be going to three full-day training sessions in September and October; they will be meeting continuously throughout the year.

Commitments: ADL Peer Leaders will be developing projects and implementing them in the school during the year.

Facts: This is a brand new club and the goal of the program is “to make the school a more welcoming place to people of all backgrounds.” 

Theater: 

Interviewee: Emily Gleason

Advisor: Ms. Snow

Benefits: You get to “explore the arts!!”

Number of members: Most likely around 40-50 by the end of this year.

When they meet: After school, for around 1-2 hours, although closer to the show is 2-4 hours per day.

Commitments: BIG time commitment, so you can’t do theater and sports at the same time.

Facts: 

• Ms. Snow is the new director. 
• It’s fun, a good way to meet new people, and a good way to make friends.
• You learn from every production.

National Honor Society 

Advisor: Mark Dziedziak

Benefits: If you’re in it, you’re “an outstanding student.”

Number of members: “We have 45 as of now.”

When they meet:  A few times, dispersed throughout the school year. 

Commitments: As Mr. Dziedziak said, “Students are invited to apply to NHS during junior year if they have a 3.6 GPA or better. The organization honors students who show a commitment to scholarship, service, and leadership.”

Facts: “We are hoping to create a partnership with Our Neighbors Table this year – so we will participate in food drives and volunteer opportunities.”

Student Council

Advisor: Ms.Cavallaro

Benefits: 

• It’s a good opportunity to make friends from different grades.
• They make events happen and use the input of students from all the high school grades. (If you want to give your own input, talk to your representative.)
• If you have a problem with something in the school or want something to happen, the student council will help. 
• Student council teaches you leadership skills.

Number of members: 6 from each grade, so 24 all together.

When they meet: Every Thursday morning at 7:00 a.m.

Commitments: 

• You have to keep your grades up.
• No smoking, drinking, or drugs. 
• To run you must give a speech to your peers and write an essay. 
• You must arrive early to events to help set up and stay late to help clean up.

Facts: 

• “Sometimes you may have to catch people if they faint at a blood drive.” 
• “We eat a lot of donuts in the morning.”
• “We always have a fun time and each member blows up around 200 balloons each year.” 

Speech and Debate Team

Student leader: Isabella Parra 

Advisor: Mr. Siegfried

Benefits:

• You will gain essential public speaking techniques that will help you if you’re shy or a more introverted person. 
• Not only will being good at public speaking help benefit presentations at school, but it will help you in the future when you apply for a job. 
• Being on this team helps you gain confidence within yourself and really improve your persuasive skills when arguing your case in debate or proving why your speech is better than others. 
• It’s great for college applications!
• You’re encouraged to argue with others.

Number of members:  Last year they had 6 people, and this year they have roughly 15. 

When they meet: Every Wednesday after school in Mr. Siegfried’s room. Meetings go from 2:15-2:45 p.m.

Commitments:

• “This team is very relaxed about commitment policy, so if you can’t make a meeting or two we understand as long as you continue to work on your speech or debate prowess outside of the meetings.”
• It is not very time-consuming, but depending on what topic you decide to do the preparation times vary.
• This is the second year that the team is running.
• You are expected to come to the meets every two months.

Facts:

• They have been new to Pentucket since last year, and are looking for new members, especially younger and ambitious people who are ready to bring their skills to the table and learn more about the art of this club. 
• They go to states every year and hope to bring the state title to Pentucket.

Math Team 

Student leader: Lillian Friend 

Advisor: Ms. Chory

Benefits:

• It’s a great way to have fun with friends, travel to other schools in the area, and practice math. 
• There’s no pressure at all, so you can try doing more complex math problems without the stress of striving for a good grade. 
• Being on the math team is a fun way to keep your math skills sharp and hang out with other high schoolers who enjoy math.

Number of members:  As of now, they have 17 students signed up for the math team. However, as the year progresses, it is normal for the number of students in attendance to vary, as many are involved in other commitments. This is understood fully by members of the club. 

When they meet: They plan once a month for official meets (usually the first Thursday) where they compete and either host other teams or travel to another school. This year, they are also having informal practices after school on Thursdays so that students can work on practice problems for upcoming meets.

Commitments: 

• As they have said, practices are informal, and depending on when students have other seasonal activities, they may or may not be able to attend meets. “Some people try to go to every meet, whereas others might go to one or two. It’s mostly on a come-when-you-can basis!”

Facts:

• Anybody can join, and you don’t need to be fantastic at math. All you need is a positive attitude and a willingness to have fun with math. 
• There’s always free food at meets. Usually, it’s pizza, but schools like Pingree sometimes have brownies, pretzels, or cookies.

Events Production Team

Student leaders: Adam Hannula and Chaney Goldstein 

Advisor: Mr. Berube

Benefits:

• One of the main benefits of being in Pentucket’s Events Production Team is the opportunity to work with state-of-the-art theater technology by some of the most prominent companies in the industry. 
• You can learn how to create and control cool lighting effects with their professional lighting console and various different lights, or even learn how to design a surround-sound underscore for a play using their sound mixing board. If that’s not your style, the auditorium is equipped with video gear to make it capable of live streaming to popular sites, including YouTube, Twitch, etc.

Number of members: Around 10.

When they meet: “We typically meet on Wednesdays after school from 2:15-3:00 (or whenever the late bus comes), and they discuss events that we work at, figure out scheduling for people, and also learn more about the equipment that we have in our school. The learning part is more for the new members.”

Commitments: “As almost all of the events that they do are outside of school hours, it’s important that those who join the club are flexible in that they can commit to long hours of work after school. To put it best, a member would need to be able to commit to an entire event, rather than just committing to a single day. Most events we cover span multiple days, with the exception of concerts.”

Facts:

• Another cool perk of working with the Pentucket Events Production Team is being able to use your creativity in order to create fundamental aspects of a production. This can be something as simple as choosing music/sound effects to play during a production, to as complex as rigging backdrops and lights in order to create a realistic look of anywhere in the world. 
• Most people in the club are involved in the Pentucket Music program 

Journalism 

Student leaders: Emily Jones and Mirabel Elias-Upham

Advisor: Ms. Ducolon

Number of members: Around 30-40 

When they meet: They meet online, typically through email or Google Classroom.

Benefit/ Commitments: One article, podcast, video, or photo gallery a quarter, on whatever topic you want.

Facts: “Really laid back, and the audience isn’t restricted to local people; “our audience reaches all around the United States.”

Dance Team: 

Advisor: Mrs. Endyke

Benefits: Having fun dancing, exercising, listening to music, meeting new friends, and learning how to dance

Number of members: 10-20

When they meet: Every other Thursday.

Commitments: Pretty flexible, “Come to the dance meetings, although it is ok to miss a few”

Facts: “We will have guest choreographers doing hip hop and other dances to learn.”

Student Organ Donor Advocates (SODA)

Student leader: Emerson Terry

Advisor: Ms. Ward

Benefits: The feeling of knowing you are making some difference, no matter how big or small. In the club, members are educated on the impacts of being an organ donor and hopefully in turn educate others on the impacts. Club members are not required to be organ donors, but it is of course encouraged to be one. Growing the organ donor population is a goal of this club. 

Number of members: As of right now, there are 24 students in the club. 

When they meet: They have had one meeting so far. Emmerson said: “I hope we will keep meeting on Wednesdays after school, but this is subject to change if it begins to not work schedule-wise for members, officers, or the advisor.”

Commitments: There are not many major commitments to being in SODA. One commitment is just showing up for the other members and trying to attend every meeting you can. It is also important to be open to learning about the organization and organ donation as a whole. 

Facts:

• Pentucket is recognized as an established national chapter of SODA. 
• SODA at Pentucket was founded by a 2021 graduate, Emily Gould.
• “We have guest speakers come that either have received organ donations, work with organ donations, or advocate for organ donations.”
• Joining and attending meetings can include a free t-shirt and/or pens!
• “From now until November 17th we are participating in the first-ever SODA Campus Challenge where we are participating in events in order to win points to receive a trophy and $500!”

Crafting Club 

Advisor: Ms. Costello

Benefits: “The role of any club is ‘to build belonging.’ Crafting club builds that sense of belonging around working with our hands to create something from its parts.”

Number of members: They currently have 18 students enrolled, mostly middle schoolers.

When they meet: It meets on Tuesdays after school in the library. Because faculty meetings are on the first Tuesday of the month, they don’t meet the first week of each month.

Commitments: If the craft is specifically costly, Ms. Costello may put out an email asking students to commit so she knows how much to purchase. 

Facts: 

• “Students brainstorm a large amount of craft ideas at the beginning of the semester and I choose from that list which craft we do each week.”
• Students like to do holiday-themed crafts. 

Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA)

Student leader: Lindsey Whalen

Advisors: Ms. Costello and Mr. Bixby

Benefits:  “It offers a community for people who might feel more isolated in the school, as well as providing education on queer topics/current events. We also make brownies for the meetings and we play video games, which is fun.”

Number of members: Around 7.

When they meet: Wednesdays after school. 

Commitments: “We are not super strict with commitment. I feel like the GSA should be for people who need it when it’s needed. If people don’t feel like they need to go they don’t have to.”

Facts: They decorate cookies in December!

Book Club

Student leader: Sophia Curry

Advisor: Ms. Costello

Benefits: Being able to read books with others who enjoy reading and working on focus when it comes to reading.

Number of members: There are around 34 people in the book club including some of our teachers!

When they meet: Once they decide on a book, they read it over a couple of months while Ms. Costello asks questions online. “The only time we meet in person is when we finish a book.”

Commitments: “We just ask you to read the book with us and answer the questions.”

Facts:  

• “It is mostly online so it won’t get in the way of extracurriculars. 
•  One of the books we have read is “The Girls I’ve Been” by Tess Sharpe.
• Anyone is welcome to come and if you can’t come no problem. 

Distributive Education Clubs of America  (DECA) 

Student leader: Colin Rafferty

Advisor: Ms. Hamilton

Benefits:  

• DECA teaches students about business using real-world situations. 
• The competition on December 13th has students role-play as managers, advisors, or employees where they are given a prompt. 
• The competition offers categories such as hospitality and tourism, marketing, business management and administration, and finance. 
• Students read the prompt, come up with ideas, and present it to a judge. 
• Other advantages include being a part of a team and spending a day with trained judges who help you improve yourself in a real-world situation that could happen later in life. 

Number of members: There are 135 people in the club this year.

When they meet: “They had an informational meeting two weeks ago, in order to inform members about the date of the competition and rules. Besides informational meetings, we do not have others, because the main event is Regionals.”

Commitments: Regionals on December 15th and completing a business test before the competition. If a student does well in their category, they can attend states in Boston or Nationals in California.

Facts:  

• Students are driven to Regionals where they compete.
• After competing, employees at the event feed students.

Environmental Club 

Advisor: Ms. Hughes

Benefits:  One of the biggest benefits of being in their club is getting to meet great new people! You also get to learn about and help our environment and the living things around us, through events and activities.

Number of members: Around 50 students.

When they meet:  They meet every Thursday after school.

Commitments: Every member must try to come to meetings and events whenever possible. 

Facts: 

• “We are getting baby endangered Blanding’s turtles that we will help raise and release!”

• It is a high school and middle school mixed club.
• They help take care of the outdoor classroom here.

Robotics Team 

Student leader: Olivia Ferrera

Advisor: Mr. Elhelw

Benefits: Students who join the robotics team benefit from learning skills in mechanical, electrical, programming, leadership, strategy, and marketing. They also have the benefit of obtaining scholarships. 

Number of members: About 27 people

When they meet: The robotics team meets together on Tuesdays 6-8 p.m. and all sub-teams meet on different days of the week.

Commitments:  If a student is interested in participating in the FIRST robotics competition, they must attend team meetings, log their hours, and complete all of their tasks on the student achievements outline. 

Facts: 

• When they compete in FIRST, they’ll go up against other teams. 
• They can make alliances with the same people they go up against. 
• Each sub-team has a mentor who specializes in the sub-team’s category. 

Science League 

Advisor: Mr. Jacques

Benefits: You would get to produce cool projects, and you get to see the projects of other schools. Number of members:  20 people.

When they meet: Tuesdays as necessary.

Commitments: “Once a month we go to another school in the area.”

Facts:

• They build catapults and wall crawlers.
• There’s free pizza.
• It’s been around for about 25 years
• The furthest place they have traveled- Cape Elizabeth, Maine

Student Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) 

Student leader: James Nightingale and Lisibel Soto

Advisor: Mr. Honer

Benefits: A benefit of being in SADD is being able to promote positive decisions throughout our school community. It ensures safety and allows students to create valuable habits that are useful throughout life.

Number of members: So far, around 50 students have signed up for SADD this year, but they are hoping for more as the school year progresses!

When they meet: SADD is meant to be something that anyone can be a part of, so they try to make their meeting times align with those who have busy schedules. They will meet once a month (usually at the beginning) at 7:05 AM. If they have bigger activities planned, they might have meetings twice a month at the same time.

Commitments: As far as commitments go, all they ask that all our SADD members participate regularly. This means coming to meetings, helping out with SAAD activities, and more. They understand if some can’t make it to every event or meeting, but they do ask for effort.

Facts: 

• With schools in all 50 states having their own versions, SADD has become a nationwide club!
• SADD has helped thousands of high school students veer away from harmful decisions in their life.

High School Yearbook 

Interviewed person/ people: Mirabel Elias-Upham and Emily Jones

Advisor: Ms. Cavallaro

Benefits: Members are able to contribute to the school community, and are able to be involved in the school. Additionally, it’s also a good way to connect with the senior class.

Number of members: Around 10.

When they meet: Tuesday mornings at 7:00 a.m.

Commitments: Meetings and working on it long term, you must be dedicated.

Facts: They work with local businesses and advertise their companies in order to pay off the books.

Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) Club 

Student leader: Artie Craig

Advisor: Mr. Soule

Benefits: It is a great way to make new friends and practice skills like teamwork, problem-solving, stance-taking, and being adventurous!

Number of members: Usually there are about 5-10 players.

When they meet: Every Wednesday from 2:30 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. (late bus departure).

Commitments: Meet every week so that you can participate in the adventure and develop your character’s skills and abilities.

Facts: 

• D&D is at least somewhat inspired by Tolkien’s trilogy. 
• D&D was invented by Gary Gygax in 1974, inspired by a medieval war game called “Chainmail.”

Now that you have read this article, go! Do something with this knowledge! Join a Club! Or leave this knowing you haven’t wasted your time in some endless scrolling.