The Empowerment Club

If you don’t know where to go to talk about something that’s been bothering you, then the Empowerment club is the right place to go.

How the Club Started

English teacher and club sponsor, Carolyn Kodes said, “a couple years ago some young women came to me and it started out as young women who had felt like they’ve been sexually harassed or sexually assaulted especially in the school and they really wanted a safe place to talk about it.” Kodes welcomed them in. She couldn’t call it the sexual assault club because that sounds poor, so they came up with the phrase empower instead. The students asked Kodes if she wanted to sponsor the club and she said she’d be happy to. The club has now evolved to discussing other sensitive, but important topics students wish to discuss.

What is the Purpose of the Club

Kodes responded that “ it really is a safe place to talk. Like, say a person in the library is making you feel uncomfortable and you don’t know what to do about it. Or, for instance, people nowadays want to talk about mental health”. They’ve talked about fears with their race or religion and they’ve talked about gender. Kodes also said that “the purpose of the club is to talk about things that we don’t have another spot to talk about.” She also mentioned that the club is student led and she just provides the space.

Hopes for the Empower Club

Kodes said “I hope it gets bigger, I hope more kids want to join the club and more kids bring in things that again, there is just not another spot to talk about. Like, for example, if you're in a class and your teacher is making you feel uncomfortable by looking at you a certain way or god forbid touching you a certain way, who are you gonna go to?” Kodes is hoping that students will tell other people about the club and continue to serve as a space safe for students.

Information

The club is located at room 2107 every Wednesday at 3:30pm. You don’t need to sign any papers to join the club, you can just walk in. Any further questions you have, you can contact Ms. Kodes at kodesca@u4sd.org.