Duchesne’s Own Dead Poets’ Society and Student-led Clubs Right Out of Wes Anderson’s 'Rushmore' Script

When Duchesne students aren’t buried in their schoolbooks or socializing at the campus coffee shop, Cha Cha’s Corner, they’re involved in clubs. Clubs allow students to explore their passions and possible career paths.

Future trial lawyer and junior Megan Toussaint is often spotted leading trials, or Mock Trial Club that is. Megan says, “Mock Trial Club is a great way for everyone to get involved and learn about court room procedure. It develops good advocacy for everyone.” Mock Trial Club recently participated in a competition with other schools and won their first trial.

STEM students can get involved in activities like Duchesne’s award-winning robotics team, Iron Plaid, which was selected for world championships six times. Their robot could take on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator. Students can take an internship fixing school-issued Toshiba computers at the technology lab (the closest thing Duchesne has to Apple’s Genius Bar), or the CAVE (Computer Audio/Video Education). CyberPatriot is a club that participates in anti-hacking competitions. The team recently received a gold ranking in the State Round.

Aspiring medical students or fans of ER or Grey’s Anatomy can visit the Biomedical Club. Julia Rushton, Biomedical Club Co-President and an aspiring pediatrician, says, “Sophia Hellman [Co-President of Biomedical Club] and I have a shared interest in the medical field, but we wanted to make sure that this was something we wanted to do. We also wanted to provide an outlet for someone else to make sure this is what they want to do.” Julia and Sophia focus on leading presentations about biomedicine and seeking out guest speakers from the medical industry. 

Writing students are often spotted standing on top of desks reading poetry in Duchesne’s own Dead Poet’s Society—the DA (Duchesne Academy) Poets’ Society I founded in 2019. DA Poets’ Society is a creative writing outlet for students to collaborate and grow as writers. Senior Em Biegler says her favorite part of DA Poets’ Society is that “it’s very relaxed and you really get to embrace the creative side of writing, which I never get to do anymore.” The creative writing teacher whose room is our hive, Mrs. Dabney, listens in on all our meetings—sharing her ideas and helping us with our work. She is our own Mr. Keating (except blonde). 

Although Duchesne is a heavily STEM-focused school, it still bursts with artistic passion. You may not find students breaking out into song in the hallways like in High School Musical, unless they’re in the AcaBellas club, of course. Music student and club president, Rose Barry, says, "We are working towards performances . . . learning new songs, and working on voice parts.” Barry has been a member of choir since sixth grade and recently competed in All State Choir. AcaBellas gives her the opportunity to work with other students on creative music projects.

Other art-focused clubs include International Thespian Society, Art Club, Puppet Club, and my personal favorite, Classic Film Club. But if you’re someone who likes to multitask while watching movies, there’s Knitting and Netflix Club, led by seniors Lindsey Watson and Sophia Reininger. Lindsey says that knitting is a hobby she picked up during Covid-19. She hopes to help other people at school learn the skill.

To get students in the holiday spirit this year, juniors Sophia Remson and Anna Day started Holiday Club. “We have parties for every single holiday, for any culture,” says Day, “we want to bring people together with holiday cheer.” For everyday spirit, there’s the Spirit Club, which is led by a few Duchesne girls on the St. Thomas High School cheerleading squad and Duchesne’s Charger Girls dance team.

Duchesne clubs are started and run entirely by students. Clubs are a great way for students to meet others with similar interests and create their own extracurricular activities. As Max Fischer from Wes Anderson’s Rushmore said, “I guess you’ve just gotta find something you love to do and then . . . do it for the rest of your life. For me, it’s going to Rushmore.” For many students and faculty, its Duchesne. Whatever you love to do, or however you love to celebrate, Duchesne has it all. Wes Anderson and Max Fischer would approve!