Student Organizations

Student life at Groton is planned and spontaneous, formal and casual, quiet and raucous. Programs both academic and extracurricular can foster a particular interest, but the school's intimate size always makes it easy for students to try something new.

Though voluntary in membership and informal in style, student organizations provide arenas for new ventures, new responsibilities, and new experiences that can profoundly change how students see themselves, their world, and their place in it.

The following is a list of student organizations at the School. It is not complete, as students constantly are creating new organizations.

Amnesty International

Arthropod Club

Bell Ringers

Continuing a time-honored tradition of the School, the bell-ringers meet regularly in the tower of St. John's Chapel to learn and practice ringing techniques. Some bell-ringers are responsible for chiming and playing music before chapel and after chapel. Membership is open to all students. It is a much cherished opportunity that not many are able to enjoy. The task is hard and arduous at first, but once it is mastered, a group of people together can perform a beautiful tune with bells for hours.

Book Club

To those who love reading books for fun, the book club is a great opportunity to discuss what you've read with fellow students who share the love for books. The Book Club is open to reading any genre, from modern fiction such as The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett, to Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut, and even to plays like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. Sometimes, the Book Club will watch films of the book we read. Books are assigned over breaks, so students are not pressured to read when they have schoolwork to do. It is a great experience where students can learn of each other's insights while having fun discussing a wide variety of books.

Christian Fellowship

Meeting once a week for approximately an hour, Christian Fellowship is a group that concentrates on understanding faith and how it applies to life at Groton. This organization is open to all students, regardless of their religious background. The group occasionally gets together with fellowships of other schools for weekend get-togethers or events.

Circle Voice

Cultural Alliance

The mission statement of the Cultural Alliance reads as follows:

The Cultural Alliance is an integration and unity of the peoples at Groton School that creates an atmosphere of inclusiveness and respect for cultural differences in order to promote cultural awareness and provide for equality through open-minded understanding

The Alliance tries to fulfill this objective through many means. In addition to bi-monthly meetings in which members discuss various issues to do with culture and diversity, the Alliance usually brings at least one performer or speaker to the campus each year in order to facilitate greater cultural awareness at Groton. In addition, the Alliance is in charge of organizing the events for Martin Luther King Day. On Martin Luther King Day, all classes are cancelled and the entire school listens to a speaker invited by the Cultural Alliance and also attends various cultural workshops during the day. These workshops are headed by students and faculty alike, and cover different topics all pertaining to cultural diversity and acceptance.

Debating Society

The Debating Society has members from every Form. The society competes at several interscholastic debates throughout the year, where the individual and team results have been quite impressive.

Enviro Board

The Groton Environmental Group Board is a group of elected students whose main objective is to promote environmental awareness on campus. In addition to the board, there is also an Environmental Group available to all students, which provides an opportunity for students to become involved in environmental action. Groton’s Environmental Board is involved with many national programs including Step it Up day, Earth Day, and The Green Cup Challenge.

Groton students take progressive action and compete in the Green Cup Challenge, a month long, interscholastic challenge to reduce energy consumption. With help from each person on campus, Groton was able last year to achieve 8th place out of 32 participating boarding schools. The Groton Environmental Board promotes the awareness within our local community by hosting a farmers market on campus in the fall, planting flowers in the town in the spring, assisting with trail management when possible, and managing the on-campus recycling program.

Throughout the past school years, the School has endorsed sustainability by installing a Geo-Thermal well on campus, holding a school-wide viewing of Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, hosting a lecture by Bill McKibben, a Middlebury professor whose work is central to the sustainability movement, and plans to install a wood-chip burning furnace as an alternative to oil. The Groton Environmental Board works with the entire school and local community to promote awareness about sustainable practices and takes action to preserve the natural environment. To learn more about sustainability, please visit www.epa.gov/Sustainability/

Fives

Flicks

French Club

Gay-Straight Alliance

The Gay-Straight Alliance is a vibrant and multi-faceted organization that exists to improve upon the current atmosphere of understanding and respect in our community. Anyone who is interested in the ongoing dialogue concerning issues of sexual identity, or anyone who is questioning or exploring one's own sexual identity and would like support and information is welcome to participate. We are active in LGBT events in the greater Boston area, we show relevant films, we encourage debate and discussion, and we enjoy great feeds and fun. Straight friends are crucial to the effectiveness of this organization, so all people are welcome regardless of orientation.

GCS: Groton Community Service Organization

Groton Community Service (GCS) is the student organization that champions service work at Groton School. In collaboration with the director of Service and Leadership, the GCS board, led by two co-chairs and populated with students from the fourth through sixth forms, helps to organize and publicize both weekly and one-time service projects. All students are encouraged to participate in GCS-sponsored events, and the GCS board endeavors to help other student organizations engage in service work as well. The GCS board is responsible for awarding G.O.L.D. grants, which help fund service work, to student applicants in the spring term.

Gospel Choir

Grotonian

The Grotonian is the school’s literary magazine, published two to four times each year. Known as the "Grot", the magazine is edited by and contains works by students in the Upper School. The writing includes poetry as well as short stories, and the artwork includes photography, sketches, and printmaking.

ICAP: International Community Advising Program

The International Community Advising Program (ICAP) was founded with the mission of providing social and cultural support to peers arriving to Groton from foreign countries. Thousands of miles away from home, International students often encounter difficulties in the beginning of the year at Groton due to cultural transitions and increased academic workload. To facilitate their transitions, ICAP created a student advisor-advisee program, in which every new student is paired with a returning student with a similar cultural background. ICAP advisors are available to support and give advice at all times when a student finds school-life demanding. ICAP attempts to support International Students so they will feel at home and one of ICAP's main missions is to make sure that International Students have a place to stay during the school vacations. Through ICAP, Groton will become a second home for the International Students.

ICAP also hosts trips to nearby towns and Boston, to make students more familiar with the surroundings and to make the students feel more at home. This year's heads are Sojung Jeong, Harsh Govil, and Henry Chang.

Another important mission of ICAP is to raise awareness and appreciation of the cultural diversity here at Groton. Although recent improvements in technology have connected many different cultures together, we often find ourselves uninformed about other cultures. ICAP members come from 12 different countries, ranging from Jamaica to Japan. Recent events sponsored by ICAP include International Entertainment Night and a tour of historical sites in Boston. Groton School is always open to learn and explore about cultural backgrounds, characteristics of the students at Groton. In pursuing such interest among the students and faculties here, ICAP leads us in the right direction that will continue to broaden our horizons.

Independent Music Club

Islamic Society

The Groton School Islamic Society provides a welcoming and comforting environment for Muslim students to explore parts of their faith in an interactive, open-minded way. The group tries to combine doctrinal study of the Koran and other Muslim texts with more open discussions on the role of Islam in the modern world and its personal importance. Led by advisor Mary Lahaj, the group meets on Sundays in the Gardner Room. The Islamic Society organizes the annual School-wide Ramadan Fast, in which as many as 100 students volunteer to fast for one day in the month of Ramadan (in the Islamic calendar). In addition, the group does an annual T-Shirt fundraiser, donating the proceeds to charity. One of the objectives of this day is to increase the Groton community’s understanding of the religion and spirituality of Islam.

Kids to Kids Club

Kids to Kids began in 2008 in partnership with Infante Sano, a Boston-based non-profit which supports maternity hospitals in the Dominican Republic, this new club engages Groton students to connect with kids in the Dominican Republic. Each year programs in the Dominican Republic apply to Kids to Kids for grants to support their projects; these projects are geared towards educating the children in this developing country through providing them with athletic and artistic opportunities.

The Kids to Kids Club at Groton recently had a meeting to choose which projects to support. Having raised over $1,000 from a Cookout with the MEAT Club and a bake sale, the club decided to support two projects and fundraise toward another. We will be sending support to Villa Hermosa Boys Group, a group of boys who gather to play flag-football and attend classes about self-esteem, teen-delinquency, pregnancy, and choice-making. As well, we chose to support Ser Mujer, a program for 30 young girls in Jabonico focused on empowering women to be independent through expression in art, music, drama and cooking. Finally, we are raising funds to support the Stars Project. The library in this Dominican Republic Community burned down five years ago, and the community is looking for money to replace the books and support a children’s reading group.

In addition to supporting these projects in the Dominican Republic, Groton’s Kids to Kids Club has had Bill Haney come speak about conditions in the country, has planned a community service trip to the Dominican Republic during the next spring break, is working on more fundraising possibilities, and has compiled a service book to present possible service-based avenues for Groton students to explore. Enjoy!

Math Team

The Groton Math Team is more than a recreational club. It is one of the few clubs at Groton that focuses on an academic field: math. In the past, we have participated in numerous competitions including the Harvard MIT Math Tournament (HMMT), Purple Comet, American Regions Math League (ARML), New England Math League (NEML), and the AMC/AIME. We meet once a week throughout the whole year in the evening for an hour to an hour and a half. We usually solve problems from past competitions and learn the methods behind them. It is definitely a fun club for those who enjoy challenging math problems. All are welcome, regardless of age, grade, or math level!

Model UN

Model UN is an organization in which students spend the Winter Term preparing for the North American Invitational Model United Nations Conference at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Students research the stance of their assigned country on current world issues and then travel to Washington to attend the conference, where they participate in mock sessions trying to persuade the assembly to pass their resolutions. The accurate representation of the UN, trips to foreign embassies, as well as sightseeing in Washington make the trip a "must" for students interested in international relations.

Outdoor Club

Founded in 2000, the Outdoor Club is open to students of any Form who share a common interest in outdoor activities. The Outdoor Club organizes a variety of outings available to all of its members; These excursions range from hikes in the mountains of New Hampshire, to day trips to ski resorts in surrounding areas. Members of the Outdoor Club are enthusiastic about exploring the diverse beauty New England has to offer.

Peer Counselors

Photography Club

Sacred Valley

Spanish Club

El club español es lo más poderoso de la escuela! En este club, se hablan mucho español y se hacen cosas de las culturas hispánicas y españoles (como comer la comida de México en un viaje a Taco Bell). Pero la real razón de estar en este club es enseñar más del idioma y enojarse con una gente que ama las culturas españoles.

Spanish Club is the most influential club in the school! In Spanish Club, we speak (surprisingly) Spanish and try out best to participate in activities typical of Hispanic and Spanish cultures (like going to eat tacos at Taco Bell, for example!). But the real reason to be in Spanish Club is to learn more about the language and to enjoy yourself with other people who truly love the language itself, as well as the many cultures of Spanish speaking countries.

Student Activities Committee

The SAC (Student Activities Committee) is a group composed of twelve elected Seniors along with a Faculty advisor. Together we are responsible for planning weekend activities on campus. In addition to a Winter and Spring semiformal dance, weekend dances often carry a theme such as the ever-popular "1980’s" Dance , the Date Dance, or a holiday theme such as the Halloween dance. The SAC organizes various activities such as the Lip Sync on stage dorm competitions, Powderpuff Football, and Casino Night. In addition, the SAC also works to bring various bands and performers to campus. Some recent performers include a hypnotist, a sword swallower, several bands, and college a capella groups featuring Alumni and Alumnae. The goal of the SAC is to make sure that students are able to take a break from their work and have fun. The members work with the students to create dances, performances, and events (on campus and off) that involve the whole student body as well as Faculty and Staff.

The Asian Culture Appreciation Society

The Asian Culture Appreciation Society is a newly founded club that embodies some of the Asian seniors' wishes to create a club to let our culture be known at Groton. Although there exist other clubs for international students, none has ever focused specifically on Asian culture. Asian culture is very little known in the States, but we hope to change that with this club. We will meet every week, mostly on Saturdays, for an hour or so to eat Korean/Chinese/Japanese food. Once or twice a month, we will have a movie night where we will show Asian movies with English subtitles.

The Groton Arthropod Club

The Groton Arthropod Club, started in 2008, is a small group of students who enjoy studying various bugs.

Because of other commitments in school, we go outside on Sundays in the fall and spring. In the fall, we caught various insects near the flower fields around the boys’ soccer fields. We mostly captured pollinators, such as bumblebees, wasps, honeybees, and butterflies, as they were common near the flowers. We also set a few pitfall traps, but most of them didn’t turn out very well. We will be setting up a few again in the spring.

In the winter, the cold weather and the snow made it impossible for us to collect bugs. Thus, we met in the science facility where we observed the insects that we had caught during the fall. With a powerful dissecting microscope and some help from Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity by Steven Marshall, we were able to identify some of the insects that we caught.

In the spring, as soon as the flowers start to bloom, the club goes outside on Sundays. Unfortunately, the typical New England weather makes it hard to go out many times as winter begins early and spring comes late here.

The Groton Arthropod Club is filled with interesting people, and even if you don’t like bugs too much, you can always come and hang out with the people. For more information, visit http://www.grotonarthropods.org

The Groton Congress

The Groton Congressis a representative body of students from all the forms that discusses and acts upon matters of student life. It has three main goals: to raise interest in campus issues, to serve as a student forum, and to facilitate student responses to campus issues and policies in a uniform, systematic way. Although a relatively new organization, the Congress has successfully addressed a wide range of issues over the years, including the reinstatement of Roll Call, establishing an honor code, helping with the school self evaluation process and helping to shape the new Wednesday morning schedule. The Groton Congress is a key organization as it is regarded by the faculty and administration as the students' voice on important campus life issues.

The Trap Shooting Club

The Trap Shooting Club goes out on selected Sundays to the Westford Sportsclub's shooting range in Westford, MA (ten minutes from campus). With the help of Dr. Johns and other faculty members, students at all levels are able to shoot skeet and improve their shooting skills in a safe and fun enviroment.

Waffle Club

Yearbook

A staff of students and a faculty advisor produce the yearbook annually. The group is mainly comprised of seniors and juniors. The job descriptions range from text editor to photographer. Meetings are held twice a week on Fridays and Sundays and food and music are always provided. The yearbook comes out during the week before graduation so seniors get a chance to sign everyone’s book. Pictures of graduation are then put on a CD, which is sent out to everyone in the following school year.