On Tuesday, more than 90 student clubs and organizations were featured at the annual upper school Club Fair, as representatives set up tables inside and outside Nichols Hall for a wide range of interests, including academics, hobbies and public service. The Maker Club, one of the many hobbyist clubs tabling at the event, creates spaces for students to build technical projects (examples include everything from kites to ultrasonic sensors) and help them improve their skills through workshops. “It’s just an open space for them to do what they want to,” said club representative Pratulya Rangavazzala, grade 11.
The Neurodiversity Committee was one of several DEI-focused groups at the Club Fair, whose mission is to “help create a safe space for people to to talk about what’s going on at Harker and other places related to neurodiversity and any other topics that are related,” said junior Simon Kirjner, a club officer. Examples of neurodiverse people include those living with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia.
“We have meetings with our club members in order for them to find a safe space at Harker and just talk about their experience being neurodiverse at Harker, said senior Alana Brill, a club representative.
The Club Fair also featured long-running organizations such as Harker’s Eclectic Literary Magazine – more commonly known as HELM – which publishes student-submitted art and writing. “We encourage submissions from all across our community,” said senior Ariel Zhang, who represented HELM at the fair. “We traditionally accept written works like fiction or poetry and also different multimedia art, and recently we’ve tried to take video submissions as well.”