Cardinals Connect Club Renews School Spirit at Newman During Pandemic
Photo courtesy Newman Faculty. (Left to Right) Sophomores Chase Tyrell, Sophia Vina, and Claire Piacentini prepare the drink station during the Hot Chocolate Sale before Winter break 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic created a profound rift in common social behavior in a way which no other event has in decades prior, impacting every facet of our world, from governmental priorities and operations of businesses, to the lives of the students and staff of 247 Marlborough Street.
After a Spring of remote learning, returning in-person for the 2020-21 Newman school year brought excitement, but understandable concerns along with it. With social distancing provisions and a considerable number of students needing to remain online, the Newman community was left to wonder: how would school spirit be maintained during these extraordinary times?
In September 2020, a team of students led by Sophomores Chase Tyrell and Sophia Vina rose to the challenge of answering this question by doubling down on enthusiasm in the form of the spirit-driven Cardinals Connect Club.
“The whole idea was to just get the school together, especially during COVID. That has made a big difference in the social structure of our school since last year, so we kind of really wanted to regain that sense of community,” co-founder Tyrell said.
What started off as a small group has now blossomed into one of Newman’s largest and most successful clubs, with 26 students across the Middle Years and Diploma Programs. The group is inclusive to both in-person and online students. Tyrell described this intra-program collaboration as being pivotal to the group’s growth.
“The club started out with just nine people… [who] were very dedicated. The older students started a Charity Events Club, [and] they saw us doing a lot of [what] they had hoped to do, so then they ended up combining with us. That’s how our growth really happened,” he said.
To date, Cardinals Connect have already held several school-wide spirit events, including a hot chocolate sale and a Spring break “luau” event for students in the MYP.
Photos by Eric Lechpammer.
Dean of Students Mr. Michael Pool praised the Cardinals Connect team for their “thoughtful” approach to finding ways to channel school spirit during distant times.
“They meet regularly, and the team leaders have great, open lines of communication with everyone. A lot of the meetings that I’ve sat in on with them, they have a very thoughtful collaboration amongst each other about how they might tackle certain initiatives,” he commented.
Mr. Pool additionally commended the determination of the members in taking a lead role in adapting to COVID-19-related changes and improving the Newman community.
“We like that student-driven activity, student-driven clubs that want to do student-driven things,” he said, “When students feel that they have the autonomy to do those types of [activities] and take charge of particular events, that’s really the ideal scenario.”
In addition to organizing events promoting Newman culture, Cardinals Connect has hosted multiple student-driven community service efforts, partnering with several charitable nonprofit organizations, including Letters of Love and Blankets of Hope.
“It’s been very gratifying to see the influence it’s had on Newman students and the community as a whole,” said co-founder Vina, “I think that’s really beneficial for those younger students to see that they can make an impact, not only on the Newman community, but outside of the Newman community to people that really need it [most].”
Vina emphasized the Charity Events Club formally merging with Cardinals Connect in April 2021 as a major benefit to philanthropic progress and school-wide unity.
“Originally, the Charity Events club was more geared towards DP students and Cardinals Connect was more geared towards the MYP, so combining those two brought the MYP and DP together, which was really helpful for the younger kids who are [now] looking up to the older kids who have more experience with real charity campaigns,” she said.
Photos by Eric Lechpammer.
Furthering the central mission to reconnect the student body, Cardinals Connect have begun working with the administration in preparation for the incoming 2021-22 school year, organizing plans to reinstate the Newman house system, and working with the Student Council to maximize spirit potential.
“I feel like it’s been very progressive,” Tyrell said, “I think that right now everyone needs a sense of community. Just bringing up ideas [such as] wanting to bring back the house system kind of puts a spark in everyone, because everyone wants to… get back to a regular year.”
Mr. Pool described the house system’s potential to introduce friendly competition among students during spirit days.
“The house system next year is definitely going to be a more competition-based system, where we’ll use it mostly for interscholastic field days and stuff like that,” he said. “Generally, that house system will be more just towards competition, separate from the leadership system, which is really what student council is functioning as.”
Mr. Pool credited the Cardinals Connect team as an important unit toward forming the best possible student life experience in the coming school year.
“For me, they’re the ideal kind of students who want to get involved with all of this [planning]. They have a stake in it and they care about it, and so for me it’s great to have them as a student conversation partner, where I can [ask] ‘what do you think of this idea?’ or ‘how would you think that students would respond to this change?’” he said.
As Cardinals Connect continues to grow and cements itself as a crucial Newman club, the group remains open to newcomers.
“If you’re interested, if you have ideas about anything that has to do with the school, community-wise, if you like planning stuff, if you like drawing, we’ll take anyone because it’s a community club,” said Tyrell.
Sophomore member Claire Piacentini agreed.
“Everyone is definitely welcome. We all participate in planning events, and there’s always roles for people in setting up and creating ideas,” she said. “There’s a role for everybody.”
