Robotics
Penguin Empire Robotics is a member of the international robotics organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST). Each January, the team is challenged to build a robot in six weeks that completes certain tasks. They compete in two regional competitions in March, and hope to advance to nationals. Penguin Empire has won multiple awards and placed high in many competitions previously. At the 2019 Sacramento Regional, they reached the semifinals and went on to the 2019 FIRST Championship in Houston.
Junior and Scouting Captain, Sahasara Kalluri has been a member of Penguin Empire for two years. She thinks that robotics is a valuable experience even for those who are not necessarily interested in engineering.
“You learn a lot, and even if robotics and building a robot isn’t your thing, you still develop so many other skills, like leadership and teambuilding,” Kalluri said. “You can learn to program, become better at publicity and outreach, there’s just so much you can do.”
The team is still in the off-season and are preparing for the new challenge in January. Members are still welcome to join. Starting January, meetings will be: Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Helping Hands
Helping Hands is an environmental club that works with organizations throughout the Bay Area with a goal to make an impact on different environmental issues. It is new this year, founded by junior Mackenzie Leggett. She was inspired by her AP Environmental Science teacher, Ms. Havel, to create this club.
“San Marin definitely can use a little bit of help when it comes to caring for our environment,”
Leggett said. “I definitely think, especially with the other environmental clubs, that we can all team up and make an impact on the way kids think and the way we treat our Earth because we only have one.”
While it’s Helping Hands’ first year as a club, they have fundraisers planned for spring and an Earth Day event to get students active and mindful of the Earth.
“People should join because Earth is very important to us, it gives us a lot and we can at least do our part to give back to it,” Leggett said.
For those interested in joining, meetings are on Thursdays at lunch in Ms. Mathew’s room.
GSA
San Marin’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) is run by co-presidents, seniors Mandy Bell and Mahalia Morgan. GSA promotes equity around gender, as well as how it intersects with race, on our school campus. Club members believe that this is an important cause as the school has a history of incidents surrounding race and sexuality.
“It started in the 90’s, it’s gone into the 2000’s, and obviously times have changed relatively, so I think more people are up to date on matters regarding gender and sexuality, but I think a lot of students at this school are not necessarily the most open-minded,” Bell said. “Our goal is to use conversations to get it going.”
Last year the club created pronoun pins and put gender communication plans in the office. This year, GSA is planning on passing out more of the pronoun pins so it reaches a wider audience. They are focusing on having more of a social media campaign and are hoping to plan Pride events.
“It’ll be a safe space for you to find your voice and to meet new friends. This is work that needs to be done,” Morgan said.
Speech and Debate
Speech and Debate members practice parliamentary debate and test their skills at tournaments against other schools. Parliamentary uses quick thinking, logic, and reasoning over pure evidence, making it a great opportunity for students who struggle with public speaking.
Sophomore Rayhan Syed is the social media manager for the club. While he joined out of self interest, Syed says it looks good on college apps and it’s fun to grow alongside his teammates.
“Speech and debate provides an outlet for students to grow their speaking skills and general knowledge, and the ability to create arguments from different viewpoints,” Syed said.
Speech and Debate is a very active club and goes to many travel meets. They meet on Wednesdays afterschool from 3 to 4pm in Ms. Havel’s room.
Recycled Closet
Recycled Closet Club pushes to end fast-fashion by organizing clothing drives to donate to local organizations or swap at campus events.
Senior co-presidents and founders Reese Nilsen and Ruth Alvarenga were inspired to create the club because their friends had unused clothing they didn’t know how to sustainably get rid of.
“There was no club at San Marin that’s directly about the pollution of clothing,” Nilsen said. “We think it’s a good opportunity to spread more knowledge about clothing and it’s also fun to get new clothing items that are second hand because they are more unique.”
Nilsen and Alvarenga plan on giving more used clothes to Goodwill and Salvation Army, and are working on giving extra donations to the office for students who spill on their clothing.
“We’re giving back to the community, we’re gonna donate to this non-profit called Bloom in San Rafael, so it’s just like we’re also giving back to our community at the same time,” Alvarenga said.
Bring Change to Mind
Bring Change to Mind (BC2M) is a wellness club that organizes events to help take away some of the stress from school. It’s part of a national organization with about 400 participating schools with a goal to bring more attention to mental illnesses and end the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health.
The president, senior Brigitte Islas, believes that everyone voicing their opinions will help improve the atmosphere on campus.
“I feel like high school students especially struggle with mental health, and it can be kind of awkward and not really comfortable to talk about,” Islas said. “BC2M really just wants to make the conversation more comfortable for people to speak out about problems that they may be having.”
Meetings are held on Tuesdays at lunch in Mr. Spinrad’s room.
