Extracurricular activities are a highlight of high school for many students, and while the older clubs are always fun, it’s also interesting to have a new one in the mix. English and history teacher, Tim Hilliard, founded a new extracurricular this year: Lit Roundtable, a club for literary discussion.
“For about a year, I’ve been thinking about creating a club that would function as a book and movie club and create an outlet for students who enjoy reading books and watching movies,” Hilliard said.
The name ‘Lit Roundtable’ is not only a creative title but also has some significance behind it.
“I wanted to come up with something more concise than ‘Book and Movie Club,’ and my wife suggested ‘Roundtable,’” Hilliard explained. “I like that ‘Roundtable’ signifies discussion and meeting together with equal input to talk about important topics.”
Despite how new Lit Roundtable is, about 45 members have already joined unofficially. This can likely be attributed to the lack of a similar club in the past.
“I found out about the club when Mr. Hilliard asked me about the idea of forming the club,” senior Jackson Carawan said. “I was 100 percent on board with joining the day he pitched it to me.”
Every student had different reasons for joining. For some, it was being able to have meaningful discussions with fellow members.
“I like that we can have an extensive talk about things we see in movies and books and can bring up our own topics about it,” junior Mikaela Grace Bombay said.
For others, it was the love of books that motivated them to join.
“I wanted to join lit club because ever since I can remember, I’ve always had a book in my hands,” sophomore Valentina Cova said. “I absolutely adore when I have people I can talk to about books I’ve read… To find people that love books as much as I do, I decided to join lit club.”
Even though Lit Roundtable has only been meeting once a month since September, members agree that the best thing about it are the people there.
“…The club is really ‘young’ per se, but I do love the fact that I’m meeting a lot of new people,” Cova commented.
“My favorite thing about the club right now is the people,” Carawan said. “There seems to be an equal representation of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and we all get along fine and have fun.”
Many also agree that hearing others’ opinions is an important part of the meetings.
“No person will interpret things the same way, so everyone will have a different perspective on the chosen books. Being able to discuss that is pretty neat,” Bombay said.
Despite the club’s youth, the future for Lit Roundtable is bright.
“I’m hopeful that Lit Roundtable will be a space where students who are interested in books and films feel excited to come talk about the ideas and questions sparked by the things we read and watch,” Hilliard said. “Our goals will be to have conversations about true and relevant topics that are significant in our lives and our world today.”
Lit Roundtable meets the first Wednesday of every month and is open to any students interested in discussing books and movies and willing to read or view the chosen material in between meetings. Stop by room 1012 for more information or to get involved in the club.