After a thirteen year hiatus, the Gay Straight Alliance Club (GSA) has returned to LHS and is coming back better than ever before. The club, which offers students a safe environment in which to express themselves, was brought back by founder junior Helen Green and advisor Mrs. Pavao. 
Mrs. Pavao served as the advisor in the GSA’s last iteration from 2009-2011. It was successful but ultimately disbanded after the club leaders graduated.
“We started with our first meeting this month and will have another meeting next month,” said Mrs. Pavao. “The GSA club is not new to LHS; there have been iterations of the club over the years…. It pops up when there is student demand and I’m hoping this time it will stick around for good.”
The vision for the founding of the GSA club is to offer a club where students can express themselves and meet other students while just relaxing and hearing others’ ideas, support and values.
“My vision for starting the GSA was to create a space where students can go and feel heard and appreciated,” said Green. “Even if the members are just there for the snacks, I’m happy they feel comfortable enough to share the space with their peers.”
The GSA club offers a good foundation for expressing feelings and the importance of validation and its importance of discussion among students. During the meetings, students are able to share and discuss thoughts on several topics regarding feelings and support for the queer community. The first topic of the club’s first meeting was the importance of validating and supporting the feelings of others.
“I think it will make queer students have a better outlet for expressing themselves, without fear of judgment!” said Green. “One of the exercises we did our first meeting was discussion validation, and how important it is to validate others’ feelings, even when they don’t reflect your own”
GSA is a club that explores and integrates the values of unity and pride with the leadership of students who are a part of it. The impact of integration of values is a huge part of the GSA and any club at LHS.
Mrs. Pavao believes that the integration of values creates a student and schoolwide impact for club members and beyond.
“An active GSA club allows all students to feel like they are accepted for who they are and can provide them with a feeling of unity among their peers. I believe that as time goes on and our membership continues to grow, it will allow for more students to feel comfortable at LHS,” said Mrs. Pavao.
As the advisor of the new club, Mrs Pavao’s goal for the club is that it will provide a place for those who want to open up and be themselves while promoting awareness and diversity.
“My goals as an advisor is to continue to grow our membership, and provide students with a safe, judgment-free place to meet each month,” she added. “My ultimate vision for our group is for our club to work to promote awareness of diversity within our school community to ensure all of our students feel like they are heard.”
The GSA is a fresh start and a fresh club with a clear vision and goal to establish a safe and united club for students all over LHS.
“The goal of the club members is honestly to just have fun and feel safe,” said Green. “The goal is to feel safe, and free to be themselves. It’s not a place people go for any more work!! Just to relax and enjoy each others’ company.”
The club met for the first time on the 26th of September and will meet again monthly with the exact date to be released at some point during each month over flyers and announcements.
