Blair’s annual club fair brings the halls to life

Club fair blog

Photo: Blair’s Solid Ground club meets during lunch.

Blair’s Solid Ground club meets during lunch. Photo courtesy of Kieran Whittaker.

Halfway into the first month of school, Montgomery Blair’s club fair made its return. Poster boards, candy wrappers, and sign-up sheets brightened Blair Boulevard. This year, on Sept. 18, Blair student club leaders lined the main hall with posters and candy to give to anyone who would listen. The halls slowly filled as students interested in looking for new clubs pushed their way through the masses. Some students even found the fair overwhelming and hard to get through. “I love the club fair, but it’s so hard to get past all the people and be able to actually talk to the different clubs. It’s like a crowd crush.” sophomore Helen Horowitz said.

A variety of clubs showed up to the fair — from academic and service clubs like Better Day Blazers to cultural clubs like Líderes Latinos. Blair junior Marilyn Ramsdell, treasurer of Better Day Blazers, explained that the club aims to make people’s day better by doing little nice things. “We aim to take action through intentional acts of kindness and pick-me-up events on Wednesdays to help brighten someone’s day,” Ramsdell explained. “So, we do things like gifting flowers, making anonymous notes, holiday movie showings, and field trips later in the school year.”

While Better Day Blazers drew clubs with its charm, just a few tables over, Model United Nations (Model UN) offered a more serious pursuit- debating global issues and practicing diplomacy. Model UN is a popular and often highly sought after club at Blair and all around the state. Sophomore vice president Payton Newsome recommended joining Model UN for various reasons. “I love the club, it definitely helped me with my public speaking, and I really encourage everyone to do it,” Newsome said. Members go through an application process, and if admitted, go to competitions to debate current events while representing different delegations or countries. 

Meanwhile, if you're interested in discussing and debating current events, Blair sophomores Navine Sangare and Cindy Cruz have the club for you. Co-founders of the club Discourse for Change, Sangare and Cruz had the idea to make a club where no topic is off the table. The two explained that their club’s purpose is to make a space where Blazers can talk about any current event with no judgment or censorship. “The point of our club is to talk about current issues… our goal is to broaden perspectives and be able to understand other people's viewpoints.” Sangare described. Cruz added, “Hopefully, we can make our world more knowledgeable and help people expand on their mindset and get exposed to new topics… as well as socialize and learn new skills like public speaking.” 

From global discussions to local impact, Líderes Latinos focuses on supporting and empowering the Hispanic community. Líderes Latinos is a club where people can come together and help out the Hispanic community while earning service hours. Senior Kyara Romero Lira is the president of Líderes Latinos, and the club she leads does little acts of service to get more involved in the Hispanic community at Blair and show support. “We do a lot of activities, like in past years we've read to little kids when they came to the school, and we also helped decorate the school during Hispanic Heritage Month. Our main goal is to get the Hispanic community involved in the school.” Romero Lira said. 

With such a large number of clubs to pick from, Blair students are encouraged to join different interests, and there's truly a club for everyone. Whether it’s an academic club that looks good on college applications or a niche interest that someone may have, Blair has it all.