In seven days, I will be attending my 10 Year Class Reunion. In these days, I will take the opportunity to look back on ten of my favorite elements of high school (in no particular order of importance)…

#7 – Miscellaneous Organizations

* FTA :: When I was in second grade, I had this INCREDIBLE teacher who made a huge impact on me. I had, for years, said I was going to be a teacher when I grew up, but it was in second grade that I decided I would teach second grade. I wanted to be just like my teacher that year.

Then in fourth grade, my class had this awesome student teacher from the high school come over now and then who told me all about Future Teachers of America — an organization in high school for future teachers — and who said that if I was truly that passionate about being a teacher, I would need to be a member.

Well, we can all tell how my life took a whole different path, and I am not a teacher. I could still become one some day, but as for right now, its only peripherally on my radar. Despite my career goals changing in high school, I became a member of FTA, and actually served as president of it for a couple years.

I’m sad to say that FTA didn’t really do much. All I can really recall doing is having a few guest speakers at meetings and heading up the Toys for Kids campaign at Christmas in conjunction with the local car dealer. Then in the Spring, Senior members would go to the elementary school and student teach a class for a day. (If I recall correctly, my Senior year, I was assigned a first grade class for a day.)

Despite the lack of activities, I am still quick to point out that I was a member all four years of high school with the organization. It meant a lot to me. Still does.

* FHA :: I think somewhere along the line, FHA grew to have too much of a stereotype of being specifically for women who, literally, just wanted to be homemakers. In fact, this stereotype can be best found in the fact that “FHA” technically does not exist any more… instead today called FCCLA: Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America. A change that, as best I can tell, occurred effective Sept. 1, 1999. (Once again, my class seems to have been the last one to slide through before a change.)

Despite the “homemakers” moniker, this organization (much like the Homemaking class — which, by the way, does ANYONE still have the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies we made in that class… those were the BEST!) was about more than cooking, sewing and home decorating. It touched on careers. It touched on finances. It didn’t care about race, age or sex. It was all-inclusive, and its an organization I am still proud to say I was a member.

My Sophomore year, I held office in FHA, and that offered me the opportunity to attend an FHA conference in College Station one weekend. While I remember nothing about the conference, I clearly remember riding the elevator the night before hoping to run into Little Richard, who was rumored to be staying at the same hotel we were. I also remember at dinner playing the game, “Who would play you in a movie about your life?” Someone suggested Julia Roberts for me. Anyone buying that one???

Okay, so sometimes the best memories are not necessarily about the organization… sometimes they are about the events that occur thanks to being a member of that organization.

* Christian Club :: It was a time in which prayer was being yanked out of schools. At football games, prayer was replaced with a moment of silence. Meet Me At The Pole was beginning to get national attention as a questionable thing to hold on a public school campus. It was a time in which I was a proud member of Christian Club.

Christian Club met every Tuesday during lunch (we had an open campus and could leave for lunch) at the Lutheran Church a few blocks from the school. Every week a church would donate sandwiches and chips, and a local religious leader would give a talk — consider it a mini-sermon, if you will.

Many were members were simply there to have a free meal. Others, though, took the club seriously and respected what was taught during that lunch hour. I still look back on those lunches fondly, knowing that it was my freedom of religion that allowed me to attend. And knowing it was one time in which people of all faiths came together with one thing in mind: faith in God.

* National Honor Society :: I proudly wore the NHS collar on graduation day. I had earned it.

NHS was not just about having good grades. NHS was also about community involvement. It was an organization that you could not be a member of in name only. You had to work for it. A certain number of community service hours had to be completed each month. Regular club projects were held. It demanded a certain level of character to be a member.

I did my community service, much like a vast majority of members, volunteering at the local public library. Each month I had to work a certain number of hours after school — shelving books, straightening book shelves, and doing whatever task the librarian had for me that day. This could get pretty hard to do in the busy months between band practice, UIL competitions, assignment deadlines, and other activities. I somehow pulled it off every month, though. And I must admit, I have a LOT of respect for libraries and their employees after that!!

One of our biggest projects each year was when NHS members had a “play day” and picnic with students in Special Education. Those picnics put a LOT into perspective for everyone, and it left me feeling really good at the end of the day. It taught me to be grateful for all my natural blessings. It taught compassion and respect. It gave wonder and love for a fellow human, a fellow student.

So often our Special Education students are locked away and hidden from sight. Our brightest, fastest, prettiest, and most popular take the spotlight time and time again. The picnic made those Special Education students stand out in the spotlight for the day and showed them to truly be special… showed them to need and deserve our love and respect.

All organizations taught lessons that couldn’t be taught in the classroom. Its in that fact that I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a member of so many organizations and activities.