At Monte Vista, students have made a plethora of different clubs for their own interests. These can include sports, hobbies, awareness, education, etc. But let’s talk about the new concept students have taken on, Women Empowerment. Here are some of the clubs that include this movement.
After interviewing a few of the students that run clubs supporting women empowerment, it turns out that there are many different clubs that can be made, but all still lead back to women. Clubs for this movement can include performing arts, sports, book clubs, and computer science, so here are a few of many of them.
Women in Film, run by sophomore Nika Wilczkowiak, is a film club that was created for women to come together and share their love for film. In the club, students pick movies created by women to watch and discuss together. Outside of school, they plan to create their own movies with one another, sharing ideas and collaborating. All of the members have a genuine interest in film and will continue to contribute as time goes on. “If you love film, join the club,” Wilczkowiak said. “You don’t have to be a woman either. It’s just if you want to have a good community of people.”
Ladies in Lit, a book club, was founded by junior Adi Hylen. Hylen struggled to find a book club where she felt a part of. Because of this, she decided to create an environment where she had inclusivity and people could talk about their common interest in books. Every club meeting begins with a discussion on the book the club has been reading. Hylen then gives the members an opportunity to share their opinions on whether they liked the book or not. She then presents a slideshow of all the books her members have recommended and announces the next book they will read. “It’s not just for girls,” Hylen said. “Everyone is welcome because it’s fun to hear people’s opinions and thoughts on anything, and we love meeting new people.”
Girls Who Code is a coding club for girls to learn about different concepts in coding. The club was founded by a Monte Vista graduate, and has since then been passed down to Roumina Shahrodizadh, a current junior. Shahrodizadh joined the club in her freshman year, and after finding out that the club would be discontinued after both the president and vice-president of the club graduated, she decided to take over. Shahrodizadh stepped up to be the new president because she found importance in girls learning how to code. Since she has become the new president, she keeps the club running by holding club meetings and teaching new concepts in coding such as Python, Java and C++. The club members as well help with AP CSP and AP CSA. Shahrodizadh’s members are allowed to ask questions, they use different websites to practice coding and watch videos on how to do so, and the members collaborate to code together and try new things. “It’s hard to get girls to join the club,” Shahrodizadh said. “When we were having the club fair, we did have majority guys trying to join the club as a joke.” Shahrodizadh speaks out on how boys at Monte Vista found the club to be humorous for them, and were taking away from the foundation she was trying to make for girls to be able to learn something new. “You don’t need to take any classes to join the club, even if you know coding,” Shrahrodizadh Said. “We’re for everyone, just join the club and maybe you can find something you like to do in the future like coding, math, science and anything in STEM.”
