For the 2023-2024 school year, the Associated Student Body has approved 29 new clubs. The Accolade‘s cub reporters from the beginning journalism class will report on each new group in alphabetical order. For the previous ones that have already been posted, be sure to go to the Feature section.
Sophomores Francess Pak and Danielle Kim had their fair share of challenges in their first year at Sunny Hills.
“I had dance quite often, which took up a lot of my time,” Kim said. “I had to balance studying for tests and doing homework at the same time.”
Pak also experienced struggles adapting to this newfound high school environment.
“I had a tough time finishing homework and studying for much more advanced tests,” Pak said. “The Advanced Placement [AP] Human Geography exam and studying for it was extremely hard because it was difficult to take in huge amounts of information.”
Upon starting their second year of high school, both wanted to help future incoming freshmen to be more prepared than they were in managing the challenges of honors and AP classes.
Though they wanted to start with middle or junior high school students, they created a club that serves younger ones at the elementary school level.
“Teens2Tots essentially is about becoming older sisters and brothers to the children in our community and supporting them in regards to academics and interest exploration,” Pak said.
Pak’s friend, Heeju Bakh, the president of the Teens2Tots club at Glen A. Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights suggested expanding the club by creating a separate chapter at Sunny Hills through text in early August.
Pak said that the two sophomores submitted an application to start the club, and presented information about it to the Associated Student Body on Monday, Sept. 11. It was later approved on Thursday, Oct. 19.
So far, Teens2Tots has partnered with Sunset Lane Elementary School in Fullerton, Pak’s alma mater.
On Thursday, Jan. 25, between five and seven club members helped 60-80 Sunset students from around 3:45-5:00 pm., tutoring them in any subjects they required assistance in during the campus’ after-school program called, “The LAB,” Pak said. Teens2Tots plans to continue to offer tutoring help there on Mondays and Thursdays for the rest of this semester.
“It was really fun,” said sophomore Clara Tresser, who found out about this club through another member. “There were a couple of shy kids, some really extroverted kids and very studious kids who knew exactly how to do their homework and access everything.”
Through this club, student volunteers are also able to accumulate community service hours depending on their involvement with the program at Sunset.
“Through serving the community you can also get community service hours and develop strong relationships with younger children, eventually developing strong and trusting bonds as you can act as a mentor to them,” Kim said.
Pak said that although the club is native to Southern California, the presidents hope to expand Teens2Tots spreading the word to friends at other schools.
For now, Kim and Pak said they hope to partner with neighboring Parks Junior High School and Robert C. Fisler Elementary School in the 2024-2025 school year and help middle school students prepare for high school by helping them explore their individual passions.
Pak said that they contacted the principal of Parks, Robin Mundschau, hoping to have a one-time after school Q&A session at Parks towards the end of the school year to answer any questions that incoming freshmen may have.
The co-presidents are awaiting a response from Parks and have yet to contact Fisler for the start of their new endeavor.
The Teens2Tots club meets on the second Tuesday of every month during lunch in Room 92. The club posts information about their events and meetings on their Instagram @shhst2t. Contact Kim at [email protected] or Pak at [email protected] for more information.
