A Collaboration by The Beaver Reader Club Block Staff

Spring term is officially upon us, and with that comes signing up for new clubs. Are you still debating whether to stick with your current club or try something new? Are you wondering what other options are out there? Don’t worry, The Beaver Reader has you covered. We interviewed the club leaders of some of the most underrated and awesome clubs at Beaver and got their opinions on their clubs straight from the source. Below are our interviews with just a few of the amazing clubs this school has to offer.

(Clubs are not ranked in a particular order)

1. The First Generation Club

During the 2022-2023 school year, Beaver has had many new club additions that students can elect to join. One specific club the Beaver Reader was interested in highlighting is the First-Generation Club which joined the list of clubs available in the fall. We interviewed one of the club leaders, Mia Theermann ‘23, and a club member, Rameen Chohan ‘23. First off, we wanted to know what this club has been up to since its beginnings at Beaver. Mia stated that one of the current projects they hope to create at Beaver is a visual installation. Their hope is to represent the diversity of their club and the school community with flags to represent the different backgrounds of Beaver students. Another question we had for the leaders of the First-Generation club was why they wanted to implement this new club at Beaver. In response, they explained that they felt that because there was not an affinity group or club for First-Generation students, there was a needed space for those students to find a sense of community. When asked what she liked about the First-Gen club, Rameen stated: “I like that I get to talk to people about shared experiences that aren’t often talked about in an academic class.” 

Finally, we asked them the big-ticket question: why should students think about joining the First-Generation club at Beaver? This club is a great opportunity to learn about different cultures, connect with students with similar or diverse backgrounds, and learn how to engage and support other members of your community. Although the First-Generation club might be a new addition, it has definitely made its mark in the community as a space for students to connect and learn about each other. If you are a Beaver student wanting to sign up for a new club, make sure to check out the First-Generation club!

2. The Baking Club

A new addition to the catalog of Beaver clubs is Baking Club. This club is run by sophomores Margot Newman ‘25 and Alexa Scanlon ‘25, and the club focuses on finding creative ways to make and teach baking tips in an easy way. The club is limited in that they are not allowed to use the kitchen oven, reinforcing their philosophy of finding ways to bake using limited resources. As we all know, club blocks are only 35 minutes long. Although short, the allotted time is very important to the club because it “teaches how to pack things in a short period of time and shows the convenience of baking and how it doesn’t have to be a timely activity”, says leader Alexa. 

In the past term, the club has made a variety of baked treats; such as cinnamon roll waffles, chocolate-covered strawberries and pretzels, cotton candy, cake pops, and frosted cookies. The club is a great way of bringing the beaver community together across all grades and Margot and Alexa hope to keep the fun baking alive! If you are interested in learning more about Baking Club, reach out to either Margot or Alexa.

3. The Poetry Club

Sammy Thomson ‘23 is the club-leader of Beaver Country Day School’s poetry club. Unlike the other clubs we have listed, Thomson is in a unique situation: she is currently the only member of her club. During her club blocks right now, Sammy is taking it upon herself to read a novel about poetry in order to gather inspiration. Usually, she picks a prompt to write about and writes for the majority of the club block. At the end of the period, Sammy talks with her club advisor, Dr. Fash, and shares her poems. 

In the past, there have been other students in this club, but they have all graduated or moved on to other things. She believes that people should join poetry club because “in beaver classrooms, we don’t have a lot of room for poetry, and … people often overlook poetry because they see it as similar to writing an essay, but I think that it is just another creative outlet that people can use to kind of share any idea that they have.” Sammy loves poetry because of its lack of rules, and its ability to spark creativity. If this sounds interesting to you, reach out to Sammy and join The Poetry Club! 

4. The Beaver Reader

And obviously, if we are writing an article promoting clubs, we have to do a little bit of self-promo. The Beaver Reader is a supportive and fun group where we bounce ideas off of each other and write articles for the school newspaper. We have a website (beaverreader.com), an Instagram (@beaverreader), and have even started placing copies of our articles around the school building. We also have an office hours block where those who have prior club commitments during club block time can come and write and be a part of our community as well. This year, we have also introduced writing for the newspaper even if you are not involved if one of our block times to the school community as a way to get more insight from many different areas of the school. We would really love more members who are passionate about writing, journalism, and eating donuts with our club. We hope you sign up, and if you have any questions please reach out to club leaders Rory Collins ‘23 and Nadya Ansari ‘23.