Remote learning not only affects academic classes, but also extracurriculars such as clubs. There are many clubs at San Marin that support spreading kindness within our community, two of which are Jesus Club and Do Good. Be Kind. club. Although spreading kindness is harder to do remotely, clubs are still trying to find ways to welcome students and create a positive online environment.
Jesus Club is a club that makes students feel welcome and teaches students about Christianity. Before Jesus Club, there was a club called Christian Club that had been around since 2007 and ended 2015.
“The Christan club was very small, it was a shared classroom, there were about 5 students and the teacher would just help students with homework,” San Marin alumnus and youth pastor at New Life Church Novato, Travis Borrman said. “It wasn’t really much of a club, it was a place where it was like a hide out.”
Borrman founded the Jesus club five years ago and started the tradition of bringing pizza to the club meetings. At the time, Jesus Club had only five students, but over the years the number of members increased from 5 members to 61 members. Social studies teacher Robert Lacey volunteered his classroom for the club but he had one rule: everyone gets to be themselves.
“It kinda started with a humble beginning with a small classroom,” Borrman said. “And began to develop as we put more time into it.”
Before COVID-19, the club would socialize in the beginning of lunch and then students would play a game to get to know each other. After, they would have a devotional and end with a prayer.
“We are planning to ZOOM or Instagram live because lots of the students follow our Instagram, and we might post some videos on our page,” Jesus Club president Phebe Klinge said. “We will meet up on Wednesdays after school around 2.”
Because of remote learning, the club plans to have ZOOM meetings along with some in-person events for the club.
Similarly to Jesus Club, the Do Good. Be Kind. club has planned many events and posts frequently on their Instagram. Do Good. Be Kind. is a non-profit organization created by the Kurtz family and Linnea Pederson brought the idea of the club to San Marin 3 years ago. The club’s main objective is to externalize joy, kindness and goodness into our community.
Before COVID-19, the members used to meet up in Spanish teacher Mathew Mueller’s classroom on Tuesdays at lunch. The club’s members would host activities for students. For example, they would sit with students that would sit alone and invite them to their club meetings. They also held assemblies where they spread the word of Do Good. Be Kind. and held fundraisers to help the community.
“Our club creates Kindness Week,” Do Good. Be Kind. president Lily Rubey said. “It is a week where everyone will learn the 5 pillars of Do Good. Be Kind. Every weekday is based on one of these pillars.”
Because of remote learning, the club uses ZOOM and sends small chats to each other. Do Good. Be Kind. has welcomed many new students into their club this year. The club plans to paint the bathrooms now that students are not at school and would like to send inspiration emails to brighten up people’s days and be active on their Instagram page.
“Motivation levels have gone down for everything,” Rubey said. “It is just bound to happen with everything being online, I think now that our first meeting is going to start, everyone is just kinda going to flow back into it and it will be a good time for everyone to take a little break and relax in the meetings and have fun and chat.”
Students met for a regular day in Jesus club, prior to COVID-19. Spreading kindness is harder with everything being remote, but Jesus club is facing this challenge and continuing to spread kindness.
Courtesy of: Travis Borrman
