BRIDGE club is one of the many clubs here at the high school, and it is run by two students, Abi Bartusek and Ella Horejsi. The club came to be about five years ago when Anne Zweber wanted to start a club to promote inclusion and diversity. Ann needed an advisor so she turned to her mom, Barb Zweber, who loved the idea and supported Anne every step of the way. Barb let Anne take charge because she wanted the club to be student-led and student driven. They came up with the name BRIDGE because it was an acronym for “building relationships in diverse generations and empowering equity,” and their goal from the beginning was to allow students to share their similarities and celebrate their differences regarding all parts of students’ individuality. 

Before covid, they went to elementary schools and spoke to students about these values. Another thing that BRIDGE did was the culture fair. Anyone could apply to have a booth and the fair had booths such as GSA, Faith Club, German Club, Spanish Club, and so many more. The goal was to include and celebrate everyone, but because of covid, they stopped doing the culture fair. After covid, there were numerous events that happened at NPHS that sparked a need for change. Leaders Abi Bartusek and Ella Horejsi wanted to make a change to better the high school. They implemented a new goal to be a platform for courageous conversations and activism to foster between students, staff, and the community. Their main goal is to let everyone’s voices be heard. 

Last year they did a new project called “A Seat at the Table”. Their goal was to promote student individuality and diversity and to allow everyone to have the platform to share their story. It took them about a month to complete their chairs, and they went to different elementary schools to show fourth and fifth-grade students and talk to them about inclusion and diversity. This year they have a few new goals for the club. The first is to bring back the culture fair. As smaller goals, they want to go to make an impact on elementary schools and have discussions with the kids about diversity and inclusion. Another goal is to focus on difficult and important issues within society and school today. These ideas are in the name of the club itself, “building relationships.”. Also, it includes talking about generations and how each generation reacts to life events and the overall difference in opinion. Finally, they want to talk about empowering equity. This means talking about personal experiences when a student feels adversity. 

BRIDGE is looking to make the school and community a better, more comforting, and welcoming place for all students. They plan to do this by celebrating differences within themselves and the school as a whole. The club is looking for a diverse and welcoming group of individuals who are ready to make a change and an impact in our school community. The first meeting is Wednesday, October 5th in the Nook, and they would love to see you there.