Investment in Aviation Film is RAD!
Above: Students from DS attended the Youth Identity Summit at the Waynflete School in Maine last year.
With a new year at Derryfield comes a new set of clubs for students to join. Here are the four new clubs of DS that have been created by students!
RADS (Racial Awareness at the Derryfield School): Sammy Hinton ’18, Henna Malik ’18, Bella Hoang ’18
Max: What do you do in RADS? Sammy: Our club is meant to be a "safe space" with a "what happens in the room stays in the room" mentality. We have prompts for discussion, such as videos with a racial or social justice topic, and we play them for those in our club before having an open-ended discussion where we share opinions and make connections to what we just watched. The goal of this is to think of solutions regarding some of the racial and diversity-related problems we see at Derryfield, and I seriously think it can make an impact.
M: What was the inspiration behind RADS? S: We (Henna Malik, Bella Hoang, and I) created this club because of a seminar we attended at the Youth Identity Summit held last year at the Waynflete School in Maine. The seminar was entitled "Starting a Racial Awareness Club at Your School.” When we heard some of the stories shared by others and witnessed a "fishbowl" presentation where leaders explained their racial awareness club, we immediately started talking about how that same idea could be applied to Derryfield. From that sprung the idea of RADS.
M: Why would someone want to join RADS? S: I think someone would want to join our club because we are a community who doesn't judge others. Sure, we talk about some issues that are sensitive in today's society, but that just means that they are issues we need to talk about in order to make progress. People should join our club if they want to make a difference for the betterment of our Derryfield community.
If you want to contact Hinton, Hoang, or Malik about RADS, you can find them at 18shinton@derryfield.org, 18hmalik@derryfield.org, 18bhoang@derryfield.org.
Aviation Club: Sam Duan '19
Max: What goes on in Aviation Club? Sam: As of now, our first project will be flying a small paper airplane off of a rocket that will launch roughly 1,000 feet into the air. In terms of specs, the rocket uses a solid fuel booster to propel itself - meaning actual rocket fuel. Our future projects will be even more interesting, such as an RC (remote controlled) plane I am thinking of building for the club that can be controlled for hundreds of feet.
M: Why did you create Aviation Club? S: I just have a passion for making things fly using robotics, and so, with no preexisting club for aviation, I made my own. Here at Derryfield, there are more resources and more innovative people than I knew of in China, so the environment was perfect for pursuing what I love with others who had a similar interest.
M: Why would someone want to join Aviation Club? S: Anyone interested in building a rocket, airplane, or drone would love this club. Also, the sense of accomplishment of sending something 1,000 feet in the air is very satisfying. We are always looking for new members to join!
If you want to contact Duan, you can reach him at 20sduan@derryfield.org for questions, ideas, or interest in joining.
Film Club: Crystal Xie '18
Max: How does Film Club work? Crystal: We are currently in the pre-production period, that will go on for the next two to three weeks, where we will decide what film we will be making. The winter will consist of writing out the script for the film, along with finding actors to go along with the script. Finally, the spring will consist of shooting the film and pushing it into the final production phase when we hope to present it to the school.
M: Why did you start Film Club? C: I have a passion for both film and photography, and when I found that our school didn’t have a film club, I thought it might be cool to create one so that we could produce some kind of short film made by our students that represent the school. This past summer, I attended the Northwestern Summer Film Program where I made a few short films of my own. When I went back to China afterwards, I made my own independent documentary on feminism in China. Personally, I currently have two more films that I am working on, not affiliated with Derryfield. I just love film!
M: Why would someone want to join Film Club? C: If you are interested in film, videos, camera, acting, or art, this club is right for you. Film-making also teaches you teamwork skills, because you are required to work with different groups such as set, editing, or script to produce a final product.
You can reach Xie at 18WXie@derryfield.org if you have any questions or interests about film club.
Investment Club: Sawyer Strong '18
Max: What goes on in Investment Club? Sawyer: We work with three mentors to follow different aspects of the stock market and understand how professionals in the field predict the fluctuations in the both the stock market and the economy. We look at how prices relate to news and events existing “outside” the market.
M: Why was Investment Club created? S: I created the Investment Club because we don’t have an economics program at Derryfield and I feel that it is important that students have the opportunity to pursue it if they are interested. If we are a place to help students “find their passions”, then we should cover as many topics as possible to allow students to explore.
M: Why would someone want to join Investment Club? S: Someone would join Investment if they are interested in exploring the financial market and understanding how everything within the economy functions. For example, we may look at why there are fluctuations within trends in the economy. This club can give a student who might be considering studying finances or economics a taste of the world and an opportunity to see if they like it. Because we are so small and young as a club, we can greatly customize our curriculum to allow members to explore their interests.
Here’s Strong’s email if you would like to contact him about Investment Club: 18sstrong@derryfield.org.
If there's something you're passionate about that Derryfield does not currently offer, we encourage you to start your own club!
Max Karpawich is a Sophomore at DS and a Staff Writer for Lamplighter.