This year, Hua is president of the newly formed Speech and Debate and Giving Bach, using her own experiences to lead these clubs.
Speech and Debate is a club that, as the name suggests, focuses on speech and debating in the real world.
“Over the summer I attended the National Junior Forensics League Tournament,” Hua said. “After that, I felt that debate influenced people. I thought that expanding that concept into high school was important.”
The club plans to raise money to join the Southern California Debate League and the California High School Speech Association.
These organizations will allow the club to participate in competitions and tournaments. Using the experience from the tournament, Hua plans to teach new skills and techniques. Students will perform mock debates all throughout the school year.
Conductor Mr. Richard Meyer of the elementary and middle school orchestras originally started Giving Bach with the Oak Avenue Intermediate School Advanced Orchestra in 2009.
Mr. Meyer’s club provides underprivileged students with an opportunity to experience hands-on music. The club at the high school is a branch of the original middle school program.
“Giving Bach meant a lot to me,” Hua said. “It helped me realize that you can be happy while helping others.”
Hua exchanged ideas with Mr. Meyer over the summer and he supported her in starting the club at the high school. Hua plans for the club to play at hospitals and senior citizen homes over the next year. Her long term goal is to eventually adopt an underprivileged school to teach them music.
In spite of all this success, Hua had to overcome some challenges when originally starting the clubs. Club events, such as Fun Food Friday, confused Hua because it was a new thing for her and the other freshmen.
“It’s really intense,” Hua said. “It also feels really gratifying at the same time. Things got off to a rocky start, but things are going a lot smoother. I feel like I can do this.”
