Clubs and activities provide students with the most common ways to band together and build relationships. Clubs help students feel more comfortable and connected since they get to know each other over shared interests. These topics can be anything from activities to shared backgrounds or heritage among a group of people. 

According to PrincetonReview.com, high school clubs are one of the most important things schools can host. Usually, schools offer a wide variety of clubs for students to choose what appears interesting to them. Joining a club gives all sorts of benefits, such as helping someone make friends and gain important professional skills and traits. 

“Ultimately, they are as important as you make them,” said PrincetonReview. 

One of these clubs available to PHS students this year is the Arab Student Union (or ASU), led by Senior Sophia Salamy and sponsored by English teacher Amina Baruni. The club, in its first year of commission, shows promise of staying. 

“Starting a club is definitely not very hard. I had to get permission from the office, and they told me I needed to find a teacher to sponsor it,” said Salamy. “Ms. Baruni likes to have a relationship with students, which is one of the reasons she was happy to sponsor the club. We were good to go after that.”

The club met on Wednesdays, in Baruni’s classroom. ASU quickly gained traction and when it first started, they averaged about 65-70 students per meeting. The club was inspired by another newly formed club on campus, the African American Student Union (AASU). Like those who joined AASU, members of ASU believe all students should have somewhere they can have fun and be themselves.  

“That’s like 70 friends immediately,” said Salamy. “That’s what makes the club so awesome.” 

The goal of the club is to “Help people of Arab descent feel more comfortable, especially in a predominantly white school,” said Salamy.

 ASU is a very welcoming club, and it openly invites people of all different backgrounds to come together. A club such as this shows unity and brings a community of students together.