The clink of spare change rattles around in plastic cans as Society of Friends’ club members go from student to student, striving to raise enough money for their prospective Disneyland trip. Society of Friends, chartered last year, is a club that integrates students from general education with students from special education in order to promote school unity. This trip is only one of the many events Co-Presidents Junior Tiffany Chan and Amy Lin plan on holding this year. To help ease some of their financial worries, Lin, Treasurer Junior Jessica Chen and Secretary Sophomore Adrian Preciado presented a speech to the school board and received a $1,500 grant from the Temple City Schools Foundation.
“We want to make sure the special education students are involved and feel like they are a part of what regular education students experience,” Chan said. “The small things can make a big difference.”
In the beginning, cabinet members found themselves struggling to break through barriers with the special education students. However, this experience proved to be eye-opening, humbling the members through the transformations they saw.
“Friendship is not just about being there. You have to actually get to know someone in depth,” Lin said. “Strong friendships take a long time to gain trust. In the process, we grow as well.”
The club hopes to continue some of last year’s events, including taking its members to the Sadie Hawkins dance, as well as planning more dine-outs. At their dine-outs, club members spend time getting to know each other through games and interactions.
“Seeing the students actually enjoy themselves last year opened my eyes to the fact that though not everyone wants to hang out and spend time with them, they love to learn and still come,” Fundraising Director Junior Janelle Santos said. “You realize there’s so much more to appearances. This club gives them a second home.”
As well as collecting spare change from other students, the club has held various dine-outs in order to reach their Disneyland fundraising target of $2,500 to cover all 16 special education students and six chaperones. So far, they only need $500 more in order to complete their intended goal.
Club members wish to see Society of Friends continue to gain more club members and acceptance with a larger number of students on campus.
“What we’re doing is a good thing,” Chan said. “However, not everyone may be aware of what an impact we are capable of.”
TCHS School Newspaper