With the recent return to the school building, C.H.S. hopes to offer its students a more comprehensive experience within the high school. Many clubs and organizations were created before the pandemic and were interrupted by the social distancing and quarantine mandates. One group that was created apart from CHS was the Young Black Women’s association or the YBA. YBA is a group for young black women that has deep conversations. Jakia Maupin and Camille Michaela were on the phone talking about the struggles of black women and thought to organize a group that could uplift black women in the commuity. They discussed conversation topics and began planning the meetings. The initial step was beginning to reach out to potential members and trying to get people together for a meeting. They did that through making a virtual flyer. Because it was October of 2020, COVID-19 restrictions made gaining momentum difficult for the club but the founders persisted and eventually created for a first meeting. It was difficult to converse because of the pandemic, and because it was a very new group and unique idea. Through a series of ice breakers and relatable questions, the group began to feel more comfortable sharing their feelings and opinions with each other. The group plans to occasionally host guest speakers to provide insight the group of girls. It is particularly important because the guest speaker are of great importance to the community and can directly relate to and inspire the girls on a deeper level. With YBA now meeting in person, the club plans to go on meaningful trips and they will continue to share their stories and experiences every other thursday at the Jefferson school.

         The Black Student Union, or the BSU, was an existing club at CHS that is continuing to meet this year. Camille Michaela, the president, said “Building good relationships/friendships creates a sense of community within the club. It allows a group of people from different backgrounds to congregate in an area they feel that they belong in.” 

          Iya Feggins, Vice president,  joined because she wanted to be involved in community and felt black students needed the voice platform. She said “Camille was a member and introduced me to join and I said love to.”  The planning for the meetings occurs during BKT and  every other Tuesday after school the club meets to plan their future endeavors. It is still early so the current members encourage everybody to join. They club is still in the process of organizing a plan for the school year. For information, the most helpful route is talking to Ms.Ernst or any member of BSU. Last year the group had a number of accomplishments, even through the pandemic. They created BSU goodie bag projects and hosted an open mic night webinar celebrating black excellence in the community. There are many reasons to attend these great meetings, Iya stated that her reason was because, “I love to be there and be present and help out however I can and lead meetings and encourage people.”