Going Clubbing
“Tweeeet!” A whistle is blown at a Bishop Seabury basketball game, signifying the end of the first half. All order dissolves. Popcorn is crushed into the floor. Students rush to the concessions stand. Parents rush to escape the slavering stampede with their limbs intact. Sixth-graders scurry about like mice, knocking things over. Shoes squeak shrilly. But over the din, what can be heard? Nothing but air-conditioning units. But that void shall soon be filled by the sound of students playing various musical instruments, for Matthew Ellis has founded the Bishop Seabury Pep Band.
At a larger school, the opportunity to listen to and play band music at sporting events is often taken for granted. A great variety of student-led clubs are also accepted as an inevitable component of student life. But Seabury, possessing a small student body, has long had a dearth of extracurricular clubs. This August, it became clear that this was changing. Two upper school students, senior Matthew Ellis and junior Kate Jackson, have founded the Pep Band and Community Service Club. While they are sponsored and supported by the faculty, both are student-led organizations.
In the case of the Pep Band, students and faculty alike have long felt the absence of band music and extracurricular music opportunities. According to its founder, the idea to organize a band came, in fact, from a faculty member. “Mrs. McCaffrey found out I could play music the first week I moved to the school and told me I should start a pPep bBand,” says Ellis. “It’s been in the back of my head ever since, but I decided that this year was the time to start it up.”
Moving forward, Ellis has high hopes for the band’s contribution to the school: “I’m hoping that it will energize our school teams and make the games more fun for everybody.”
“It’s gonna hype up some peeps, people who just like music,” says freshman Alesia Brovtcyna, who is a percussionist in the band. “People have already started practicing.”
Speaking to students who may be interested in joining the band, Ellis says that “if you want to have fun and you need a place to be loud and energetic, this is the club for you.”
Seabury has a proud tradition of involvement in community service, and many faculty members, such as choir teacher Margie Lawrence and history teacher Sonja Czarnecki, have long provided students with opportunities to help out in the community. But many students have a hard time finding activities that suit their busy schedules. That is’s where Kate Jackson and the Community Service club come in. According to Jackson, the club “will be particularly helpful for new students who are trying to navigate time management when it comes to volunteering.” Seabury’s community service requirement can be difficult for certain students to fill, but Jackson says that “if members sign up for at least one event per month, the required hours should be easily achieved.”
Considering the potential of these new clubs to help their members and enrich the school, all should consider participating. Without sufficient members, these crucial institutions, both old and new, lose their lustre. Play an instrument? Join the Pep Band. Need community service hours? Wish to help out in the community? Join the community service club. Help out the school, and have fun in the process.
