There are over 50 extracurriculars at White Station High School, and nine are centered around language. Spanish Honor Society, Hispanic Heritage Club, French Club, French Honor Society, Japanese Club, Chinese Club, German Club and Latin Club.
Alexandra Byrd (12) is the president and founder of the French Club. The club meets biweekly in Amanda Richmond’s room, where they do anything from watching French short films to celebrating French holidays to building the Eiffel Tower with uncooked pasta and marshmallows. The French Club strives to teach members about aspects of French culture that don’t typically get covered in a language class.
“Every language has a culture, and just understanding French isn’t just understanding the language; it’s also dissecting the culture,” Byrd said.
Starting a club has been a learning experience for Byrd. Since founding, she has had to learn how to make people excited and interested enough to keep them in the club. The French club has helped Byrd foster relationships with her French teachers and made her a more outgoing person and better leader.
“It has helped me learn leadership skills and marketing skills … things that you wouldn’t have thought you would learned—I gained that by being a founder,” Byrd said. “I also took a limb out there to, you know, to start something kind of new.”
On the other side of the hallway, the Japanese Club, or J-Club, meets every Thursday in Japanese teacher Dylan Lira’s room and is open to all who want to learn about Japan—not just students taking a Japanese class. They participate in annual events around Memphis like the Japanese fair at the Memphis Botanic Gardens, Culture Night at White Station High School and the language fair at the University of Memphis.
“That’s basically what Japanese club is: you get to immerse yourself in the Japanese culture and play games, and just, you know, just see the world from a different view,” Bailey Carr (10) said.
Cultural immersion is one of the most effective tools for learning a language. However, being constantly exposed to a language isn’t possible for most students, so the Japanese Club gives an outlet for students hoping to experience this immersion.
“Definitely if you’re in that class it helps you, because you can really immerse yourself,” Carr said. “It helps you want to learn the language more. It pushes you because it’s kind of frustrating, you know, like everyone else knows and you’re just like stuck … it pushes you to want to learn and study and just do it.”
Although the club is focused on helping students gain cultural understanding of Japan, it has helped Carr in more than an academic sense. She has been able to branch out, make new friends and be a more active member of the community.
“It’s definitely brought a brighter view because … [you] get to hang out in this room with people and friends who all share your same views,” Carr said. “It’s definitely expanding my social circle and … it just takes a bit of stress off, because, you know, being with people and being with friends.”
The Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH), or Spanish National Honor Society, is for students enrolled in upper-level Spanish classes who demonstrate high academic achievement. Members are required to get a minimum of four volunteering hours each semester through activities such as Culture Night, ushering at Cazateatro, a bilingual theatre, or participating in Desayunos con Libros, Breakfast with Books. The society also hosts parties at the end of each semester and offers various volunteering opportunities throughout the year. Junior club members can apply for a trip to a Spanish-speaking region or country, and seniors can apply for scholarships through the organization.
“This club really goes to show I’m more in the … Latino community in Memphis, and also at the school with people who want to learn and are actively learning,” Natalia Rodriguez (10) said. “It has helped me with learning Spanish even more, and it’s such a good way to tie in with other people who want to learn it as well … it’s actually for people who want to go and learn.”
Rodriguez grew up going to events for the Latino community in Memphis, like Desayuno con Libros and the Dia de los Muertos celebration at the Brooks Museum. The Spanish Honor Society allows her to honor her connection to these events and help keep the tradition alive.
“With this club, it really is tied in to when I was younger because my mom always wanted us to be tied in with our people here in Memphis, so it’s just like seeing it progress and … when I was a child I would always see people helping but now I’m the person helping the kids there,” Rodriguez said.