As students settle into a new year, the New Club plans lunches and events for incoming new-to-district students.

The New Club, which was founded shortly before the COVID pandemic, is both a student and staff-led club with the purpose of welcoming new students to the Eanes Independent School District. It is a way for students to adjust to their new environment. Friday, Aug. 30 in the College and Career Center, the club hosted a lunch, their first event of the year. New high school students met as they enjoyed pizza and Crumbl Cookies.

School-based therapists Brooke Anderson and Katie Bryant, as well as Principal Executive Assistant Diane Dealy, co-lead the club as staff leaders. 

“Miss Bryant had been involved in the past when it first started with the one student who started it,” Anderson said. “ Since we work so much together, we’re managing [the new students] pretty well and then they needed a new sponsor and so they — I think came to us.”

Anderson noted that there is a heavier-than-usual staff involvement in the operations of the New Club.

“We recognize that this club is a little different than other clubs that are totally student-led,” Anderson said. “This is sort of a pretty big responsibility for Westlake to make sure that students who are new feel welcome, included, and a part of the school We felt like it needed a little bit more faculty support than a typical club.”  

Faculty support isn’t the only extra help that the New Club gets to support its mission of welcoming new students.

“It also has a little bit more funds to help it out so that we can do events and whatnot because we see the mission of new students being welcomed at Westlake is super important,”  Anderson said.

In addition to faculty sponsors, four student members, seniors Rohit Kachalia, Susan Greenleaf, Emerson Davis and Caroline Vetters, lead the New Club as co-presidents.

“[The student leaders] definitely take new members and want new students to join,” Anderson said. “They have an Instagram account, and that is how you can join their Google Classroom to get information about any meetings that they are having.” 

Davis joined the New Club in her sophomore year. She applied for the position as president in the spring semester of her junior year, and she became one as a senior.

“I think that we’re trying to definitely incorporate, especially this year, more people from every grade,” Davis said. “… it’s been more of a senior-led club [so far], and this year we’re trying to make it more diverse, grade-wise, different students.”

Although Davis has attended Eanes since elementary school, she values helping new students find friends. As a co-president, she works to organize lunches and meet ups to achieve this goal.

“This year, [my goal is] definitely just making sure that everybody feels welcome [and] has their own place,” Davis said. “I know so far I’ve seen a lot of new underclassmen that we’ve been trying to connect with other students. So [I’m focused on] just making sure that everybody feels welcome and feels like they found their people in their place at last.” 

Fortunately for Davis, the Aug. 30 lunch likely wasn’t the only event the Club plans on hosting. Students may potentially hold more events this year. 

“I think in the beginning, [the club] was a little bit more involved, that there was kind of a dip during COVID of involvement of how to figure out how to welcome students.” Anderson said. “I feel like they come off in a good start welcoming students, and then it kind of just dies out.” 

Although involvement and activity levels are currently low for the New Club, Anderson looks forward to fixing those rates. 

“My goal would definitely be for this [club] to be more active throughout the year,” Anderson said. “And so our goal right now is to support [the New Club] so it gets more vibrant again. And so, hopefully that mission is coming through because that is definitely something that we want happening at Westlake, that students feel really welcomed.”