Mount Carmel had its annual activities fair on September 14, which gave freshmen a chance to explore the clubs and extracurricular activities available at the school.

The school encourages all students to participate in a variety of clubs to assimilate into MC life. Mr. Patrick McGarry, Director of Student Activities, notes that, “Clubs offer an opportunity to get involved through diverse activities and reflect the student body as a melting pot of interests and passions.”  While the menu of clubs changes year to year, as student interest evolves, McGarry hopes to connect students of all grade levels through these clubs and activities.

Even as some favorites from past years, such as bass fishing, young entrepreneurs club, and the A Cappella choir fall away,  there always are many available opportunities, including Young Politicians, Chess team, and the games club.  In addition, there are new offerings such as the media and math clubs, as well as Browntown, which has experienced a resurgence in interest.

Sonny Blanco, one of the freshmen who attended the Activities Fair was “looking for a fun challenge and a chance to meet people, and I feel all of these clubs have a little bit of everything.”  He also felt that “these clubs make me even more excited than I already am about Carmel.”

Many of the upperclassmen who have been participating in clubs for several years, such as Branimir Illic, a senior in the Young Politicians Club, have a vision of how their clubs should be run.

“I would like to have civilized and lively debates, that genuinely reflect the spirit of Mr. Kevin Hansen, who loved to hear what we had to say about world issues.”

Mr. Matthew Hawk, moderator of the chess club, has a specific goal for this year: not just to teach the game to new players, but to “make them see the end games.” He would also like to take some of the participants to state competition.

“We were so close last year to getting some of our students down state. We definitely have the talent to take students there and maybe even win.”

Justin Fekete, a senior on the Speech team who represented MC downstate last year, would really like to repeat, but also take a lot of his teammates with him.

“We want to represent Mount Carmel to the best of our ability and win while having fun.”