By Caleb Feliz
For those participating in clubs, it is a good year to be a Ranger. Throughout the course of the 2018-2019 year, various clubs have managed to accomplish goals that, for some, have defined their annual sum of success. The Science Olympiad team had managed to acquire entrance to the state competition. The Green Club, in its work with the Visalia Environmental Committee, arranged ecological improvements in the community. The Surf Club took a trip to the beach, respectively. Even as the end of the year neared, clubs managed to arrange undertakings to leave their mark in the 2018-2019 year.
For instance, the Outdoors Club managed to pursue an audacious hike through the Giant Forest at Sequoia National Park on Saturday, May 11. Member Adianna Cisneros, ‘22, had only been to the park once before and had not exactly remembered the experience. But, having gone to it this time, her impression was simply “amazing,” further stating she felt “joy to see nature.” Another member Sanaya Gonzales, ‘20, is an experienced tourist of the Giant Forest, having visited multiple times. Though little has changed for her this time around, albeit saying “I feel more relaxed and more open and just overall more calm. I think it’s because of the fresh air and seed on the trees.” With little visitor congestion having been there, Gonzales admitted feeling “more at peace and calmer in more of a secluded area…it’s like a moment to get away from all the stress from school and being around so many people and having to do so much work and the countless hours of staying up and trying to do homework or procrastinating on homework and stressing about it, it’s a good way to just sit back and take all the things going on in the world not just the things of school.” Gonzales’ advice to people who wish to come to the Giant Forest would be to “have a good attitude. If you come here with a bad attitude you’re gonna hate it the entire way.”
The Redwood ESports crew has also been making its stake in the year as a force to be reckoned with competitively. Darian Rojas, ‘22, articulated the course of ESports’ success, saying “some of our teams, like Rocket League, won multiple competitions and games. With Overwatch, although we lost like two, we still won a couple of them as well. We have been getting kids coming in, although not at the beginning of the year, later in the year we did have kids come in which was actually pretty good and helped expand ESports. It’s good that we had gotten recognized during assemblies ‘cause then we have Freshmen coming in…the best part about it is that we’re having a good time and just getting more people to come in.”
A final addition to the the list of accomplished clubs would be the Redwood High School Live 2 Free club that was granted the opportunity to speak in a presentation raising awareness of human trafficking at the Tulare County Office of Education back in September 2018. McKenna Pressley, ‘19, the club’s president, stated at the presentation “an idea for the club came from awareness and volunteer projects, but also love, because I realized that if I loved someone enough or make them feel valued enough to have a place of validation and feel worthy and like they have a place, then maybe that would be one less person trafficked that year. And maybe if I loved them enough that they felt empowered to love somebody else there would be two less people trafficked that year. And maybe if I got a whole organization that felt loved and value and like they had a place and went into the world and made others feel the same way, then there would be 27 million less people trafficked next year, and that is the amount of people, roughly, that are brought into human trafficking each year. And realistically, I know that my high school club might not stop worldwide human trafficking as a whole, but the idea is to make as big an impact as possible, and I plan to do just that.”
It is interesting for anyone that passes through Redwood High School to find the abundance of clubs that do their best to leave their own impacts and make their marks each year. For many, it is a special part of their High School experience that they remember for many years after. For those on the outside, it is clear that the clubs do an impeccable job of making their mark to see it themselves. Redwood has a lot to be proud of, and these marks made by the clubs add on to the list.