Have you heard about the popular yet unnoticed club here at John Dewey High School? The K-pop club offered from 3-5pm every Friday has doubled attendees since the start of last year. The Club hosted in Room 108 offers an exciting and diverse experience for those who share an interest in the Korean Pop genre of music.
Although the club is for people who already know about K-pop, it is open for anyone who wants to learn more about K-pop or in ways to use it as a safe space to socialize and share common interests. The Club Advisor Mr. Serna, who took over the club two years ago with the help of Lilly Chy, the club president, helped transform it into more of an interactive experience. The club emphasizes a lot on learning dances related to K-Pop in an environment where everyone is welcome.
Chy has a background in dancing is mentoring the other club members in learning the K-pop songs choreography. This has been shown in their performances at different events like International night, Black History Month and Lunar New Year at John Dewey High School. Although it is optional to perform it is highly suggested to come help out and learn for these performances.
Speaking about what inspired her to express herself through K-pop music, Club President Lilly Chy said, “I just thought it was a great way for people who like K-pop to come together because a lot of people aren’t very confident and expressive when it comes to K-pop… they fear they will be judged or made fun of… I thought K-pop club would be a safe place for people to feel safe about their opinions.”
Mr. Serna, the club advisor says “Even though we have a few male students my goal is to expand to more male students so they can participate in the club as well.” Mr. Serna wants male students to know that they are welcome as well to join the club. The overall goal is to create a safe environment for anyone who wants to join no matter who they are.
As the club keeps getting more popular, Mr. Serna is working on trying to attain more hours, due to the federal cut that reduced per-session hours from 100 hours to 50 hours. These extra hours would be very crucial to maintaining the clubs popularity because plenty of students who attend the club have a schedule that ends 9th period which takes away 45 minutes of time for them in the club.
Mr. Serna commits himself to the club by saying, “I will donate my time to maintaining the club even after the 50 hours to maintain the students’ love for their passion for K-pop.” Mr. Serna made it clear that this club is a priority for him and it is evident that he wants to grow this club to an even bigger level. Speaking about the increased popularity of the club, Vice President Sydney Campbell said “Since K-pop is becoming more open and popular nowadays so people want to have more K-pop friends and be more involved with it.”
