Renaissance Club Starts a New

Brendan Sheehan l Associate Editor

The former ‘Renaissance’ is a school organization dedicated to fostering a better school environment with student leadership, not a group of costumers heading down to the Faire.

This common mix-up is partially why Birds of Pride (BOP) switched its name earlier this year, according to adviser and assistant principal Mike Rohrbach. Along with the name change, the club is hoping to rebrand their actions as well and become more involved in inclusive measures throughout the school.

“It’s not that “Renaissance” isn’t a good name, it’s that many students think that our club is associated with the Renaissance Faire, and rightfully so considering the Ren Faire is 10 min from our campus,” said Rohrbach.

BOP has taken on several new projects this year to help foster a stronger sense of community within the school. Their most recent endeavor was holding “Wish Week” during the days before winter break, where the club gave out gifts to students and faculty per a submitted form.

Currently, the club is taking on a few different projects at once, such as revising “Wings of Praise.”

To receive a Wings of Praise, students had to be recognized by their teachers for outstanding work or behavior and be referred to an administrator for a signature on a small certificate. BOP, with hopes of making Wings of Praise more frequent and accessible, is getting rid of the administrative signature.

“We’re hoping that more people will submit more Wings of Praise by changing it,” said sophomore member Heidi Fox.

According to junior member Benjamin Sheffield, Wings of Praise was a large success when it was first introduced but has fallen out since COVID-19.

“The big goal back then was catching people in the act of doing kind things,” said Sheffield. “That’s sort of what we want to bring back.”

BOP is also collecting student art to hang in the hallways to honor artists and make pretty arrangements.

“A lot of people can agree that the hallways right now are not that interesting,” said Sheffield. “There are many fun things we can add, and murals and paintings are just one way to do that.”

Given a prompt of “Falcon pride and spirit,” several students created artworks on canvas to be hung up around the school. Their placement is not yet decided.

“They’re really good, and we can’t wait for everyone to see them,” said Fox.

With hopes of bringing back an activity lost during COVID-19, BOP is planning on bringing back ice cream socials at the end of each marking period to celebrate eligible students’ hard work. These were last held in the first semester of the 2019-2020 school year.

Looking to recruit members to diversify the body, BOP is taking applications for new members that will make the club more consciously inclusive.

“We are looking for people from all different corners and areas of the school that have a lot of ideas and want to make a difference,” said junior member Finn Royer. “People with a positive attitude that will devote their time to come up with ideas is what we need.”

Applications will be accepted through Feb. 17.

“I’m grateful to help guide a group of students that want to promote a positive culture in our building,” said Rohrbach. “If they can find ways to make students and staff gets excited or make a connection to our school community, then we are on the right track.”