Posters in the halls for this, posters in the halls for that, but there are never enough pieces of paper to really get people to consider joining what the halls are advertising. 

“I’m not sure how much kids listen, but it’s probably the best I can do,” stated English teacher and sponsor of both Gravity and S.A.D.D, Mrs. Grimm.

When you take a second to really look at the display cases and walls around the building, you really question if that’s all there is. From just one stroll across the main hall, you’ll see the same ads for the past school year untouched and unnoticed. “Pun totally intended, but I am sad that my numbers are so low in S.A.D.D,” Grimm says. 

Even the office doesn’t seem to know what’s up with their organizations this year. The Gay-Straight Alliance is listed as one of their many varied activities students can attend, but it is not meeting this year. “Unfortunately, we’re not running it this year,” English teacher and future sponsor of next year’s Gay-Straight Alliance, Mrs. Lezak said. “The person who wanted to run can’t stay after school. So we’re going to pick it up for next year.”

While that piece of info the office provided was, in fact, incorrect, 

what they did do correctly was list Ms. Cole as the sponsor for the Art Club. “I provide a safe space for them to do art twice a month,” she said. When asked about how the Art Club formed, she had an interesting story to tell. “I had to take it, I did not create it. I got it from an old Humanities teacher who used to work here about six years ago, and she left the school district. So then I inherited it.” Ms. Cole then stated that there isn’t any funding for the club and that she’s funding out of her own pocket. Her theory on why it isn’t as well-received in attendance is that it is only hosted every other week, and it not being under a regular schedule takes it two notches down for people joining.

Now come back to the poster idea. When you do look around, you will actually notice a lot of posters for S.A.D.D. The activities Mrs. Grimm does sponsor are actually advertised a ton around the school’s halls and even the morning announcements. Grimm, however, doesn’t think this is enough to get students to participate. “We want to get into teacher’s classrooms,” she says, “and just have the kids announce some things, kind of like how the Gantry does sometimes.”  S.A.D.D is funded with a grant that provides them with bracelets, lanyards, ink pens, pencils, all with their message of distracted driving on them. “I think it’s an important cause,” states Grimm, “but I just don’t have enough momentum for it. There’s been countless times where I thought ‘I’m not gonna be able to run it this year, I don’t have enough people.’ ”