WHS Club Carnival: a Hit with Families at Homecoming [PHOTOS]

First in a three-part series on Homecoming at Wilton High School

Saturday was a beautiful day for the annual Homecoming Weekend football game, but just as perfect for the pre-game WHS student club carnival.

This year about 20 Wilton High School student clubs set up tables and organized family-friendly activities in the grass field below Fujitani Field. 

Isabel Zayas founded the "LETS" club last year after the Newtown shootings. LETS stands for "Lets Erase the Stigma."

"Our goal is to erase the stigma of mental illness," said WHS junior Maddy Olson, a member of LETS.

"When Newtown happened, a lot of people put the blame on mental illness," said Zayas, a senior. "We theorized if people didn't feel ashamed and would instead get help for what they're struggling with, outcomes might be different. That boy in Newtown might not have done what he did if he had gotten help." 

The Top Inclusion Models Club organized a ball pit that was a hit with the youngest Homecoming guests. Club advisor Mike Walsh who is also an English teacher at WHS, explains that the club's goal is to embrace inclusion. 

According to Walsh, the club, which benefits from a board of moms, works to model behavior and refer to students with special needs in a nuanced way that does not include "the R word."

While club members Kyle Dedrick, Greer Kauffman and Harry Cokley helped children in and out of the ball pit, Walsh told Patch that the club is the result of a homegrown movement that pairs high school students with grade school and middle school students with disabilities.

"They also help out at the YMCA at Family fun nights and help out with the field day in June," Walsh said. "This is the club's fourth year."

The WHS Model Congress' booth featured a 2016 presidential election straw poll. The choices were Chris Christie, Dannel Malloy, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Hilary Clinton or Joe Biden.

"We try to simulate reality as best as possible," said Emily Fanwick (11). Rachel Davison (11) agreed. "We take our straw poll very seriously."

The club "Best Buddies" forms on one-to-one relationships between WHS students and kids with disabilities to make them feel involved and included. With a theme of "buddies and friends" the club is all about friendship.  

According to Best Buddies club secretary Reid Melillo and VP Maddie Gillespie, the club organizes events to get students with special needs out into the community.

At the Interact Club table, JR Bonhomme (12) and Lindsay Sheehan (12), explained that the club sponsors a girl named Sandra in Haiti and raises funds for her school fees and clothing through a series of events like bake sales.  The Interact Club is sponsored by the Rotary Club.

The WHS Key Club was a hive of activity with members Hannah Jung, Elizabeth Healy, Emily Mitrione and Brianna Meehan, all members of the class of 2017. The Key Club is all about service and volunteering.

Congrats to all the club members on a successful carnival.

Check this space tomorrow for the second part in the WHS Homecoming Series.