By Gianna Aktas ’16

Two very different students took separate paths to create two new official school clubs this year: senior Chris Malanga, who founded the Conservative Club, and junior Jake Siciliano, who created the Debate Club.

The Conservative Club began preparation at the end of last school year and was approved by the board at the beginning of this year. The club aims to meet once or twice a month to hold conversations and debates for the student body to participate in. Malanga, who is also the club’s president, and head adviser Mr. Freda get discussions going each month.

“As a conservative in school, I felt underrepresented by the clubs available to me, and I felt that a conservative club would help even out the spectrum,” Malanga said. “My goal was to create a haven for free political thought and encourage debates among students.”

When Siciliano wanted to create a new club for debate and public speaking at the start of the school year, he approached Ms. Ruiz to be the head adviser. Siciliano said he was inspired to create the club during a debate in his APUSH II class last year.

“The Debate Club allows beliefs and opinions to be channeled into current topics and events that students know and care the most about. It offers an environment that is accepting and tolerant of all opinions,” Siciliano said. “Once students are able to put themselves in others’ shoes and understand different points of view, the Debate Club has fulfilled its purpose.”

The Debate Club meets twice a month for 45 minutes and states its focus as creating arguments and debating relevant topics such as politics and problems seen in today’s society.

“At each meeting, students sign up to support or refute a statement made about an important political or social issue, and they are given 30 minutes to present their argument,” Ms Ruiz said.”It allows the students to gain multiple perspectives and hear what other students have to say about the ongoing events.”

Both clubs allow students to get more politically involved and get intact with today’s issues, and say their main goal is to lead to diverse conversations and give students the opportunity to express their beliefs on certain topics.

“I hope students become politically involved for either party or even a special interest group,”  Mr. Freda said. “If we look at voter turnout, people generally don’t vote or elections are completely uncontested. This club might at least spark some interest in politics.”