Freshman year Nathan Shurts came up with the idea for a new club: an entirely student run organization dedicated to organizing events for the kids in the community. Three years later, Colts for Kids has successfully run several events, from educational events to holiday celebrations.
Shurts says that founding the club was tough at first, since board approval took months and COVID hit right while he was building the foundation of the club. But he was able to get over those obstacles, and 2022 marks the second year of its existence.
Still, balancing founding the club, and taking on all the responsibilities of being the president of the club, a vice president was needed; Keira Fischbeck took on that role. She says that she fills in for the president when needed, and will always be the go-to for a second leader if one is needed.
Shurts says that the club being student run was something that he especially wanted. “I found frustration in other clubs because they aren’t really student run, per se; a lot of it is centered around the advisor who runs it, but I wanted this one to be much about students.” And it is. English teacher Jason DelPiano, the advisor of the club, says that the students run the show entirely. He says that he greatly appreciates the fact that he isn’t the one running the club by himself. “Anytime you’re an advisor or something like that you need to be the one who’s doing all the work and it seems like it doesn’t serve the purpose and the students find them spread thin; they’re not showing up, and the advisor winds up doing everything. So at first, I loved the fact that they were running the show.”
Junior Adi Mittler, the artistic director, says that the club focuses on organizing activities for younger kids, like educational activities and crafts. For instance, for a Halloween celebration, the kids were taught about safety while trick or treating, accompanied by a craft. They have also done activities on things like animals and recycling. Shurts additionally mentioned an upcoming event focused on pressure and propulsion, which, in his words, was a “big boom”.
Funding for these events come from donations from the students, and members of the club going out to buy things. It was mentioned that they were going to try and work on bringing in some fundraisers to help get some revenue for the club.
Club members include people from all different grades. Students are able to give back to the community while also making new friends and having fun. Shurts even goes so far as to say, “Everybody joined, and everybody’s very friendly. They all want to do this, and the enthusiasm is there and the energy is there.” Although community service hours are not being earned for this club yet, it has been mentioned that they will be looking into that.
To talk to Shurts about joining or to ask any questions, his email is [email protected].
