The schools secret club, HOTS

Delaney Smith l Feature Editor

School clubs are a great way to get connected with fellow students and make a positive impact that benefits the school.

Helping Others Through Service (HOTS) is a growing club that has been working hard to help out around the school and create a cleaner environment for students and staff alike.

Even though this club does not receive as much attention as others, the members are making small improvements around the school that will be helpful for everyone.

These students do building beautification that includes cleaning windows and dusting the lockers, according to adviser Dr. Diane Suhrbier. They also spend time with the Falcons for Families friends during activity periods in the IU13 and district life skills classrooms in addition to helping with the school store.

“I think HOTS benefits the members because it gives them a chance to participate in social learning,” said Suhrbier. “It gives students a chance to build friendships with people they normally wouldn’t interact with. They help to provide students with clothing who need it across the district and support the overworked custodial staff.”

There are about 20 students who are consistently coming to this club’s meetings and more interest continues to be shown each month. Advisers of the club are also hoping that their online presence continues to grow as well.

“We do different projects around the school that benefit not only students, but the staff in the building,” said club adviser and social worker Erin Callihan. “We are trying to do things that the custodial staff can’t always get to.”

One of the main projects that the club is hoping to complete this year is the Falcons for Families closet. Finishing the organization of the closet will make it easier for students and their families to access it.

“(I am looking forward to) definitely organizing the closet a little better,” said junior member Andria Smith. “And finding better storage for things we don’t need at the moment.”

HOTS members are also looking for more volunteers to offer their time and join this club which meets on weeks one and three. More members will allow the group to complete more projects around the school and divide the work among more people.

“It’s fun for me to watch the students have fun helping others,” said Callihan. “Some of them have volunteered at things outside of school, but it seems more meaningful when it is given back to their own community and other students.”

Two groups have been created, one group focuses on doing work around the school and activities with Falcon Friends while the other focuses solely on organizing and setting up the Falcons for Families closet, according to senior and co-president Brendan Sheehan.

“We are doing so much by helping the janitors and doing other events like blood drives,” said senior co-president Maddie Kishbaugh. “I hope we can continue to help the community in many different ways.”

Even though the club has grown since last school year and has improved in many ways, seniors graduating this year still want to make sure that there is a future for HOTS.

“We’ve grown in numbers which in itself is a lot because it gives people more incentive to work harder,” said Sheehan. “There are also more underclassmen this year which is exciting because it gives us a promising future for the club.”