As school is settling into the fall season, new and old clubs around campus are selling goods, hosting events and informing the community about religious traditions and holidays.
UNIDOS, the Hispanic affinity group around campus, is led by Maya Tafolla ‘27, Elizabeth Villagomez ‘27, Amie Brito ‘27, Christina Quiroz ‘26, Mateo Stremi ‘26, Genesis Abarca ‘26 and De’Avon Garcilazo ‘26. UNIDOS has hosted Karaoke on the quad, piñatas and churros in the formal gardens and a three-versus-three soccer game. The profits will go to Casa Central, a non-profit Hispanic social service organization in Chicago.
JSU, the Jewish Student Union, has appeared on stage twice thus far at morning meetings to inform the community of the two highest holy days of the Jewish calendar – Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) and Yom Kippur (a day of atonement). The club is led by Jeff Zavelsky ‘26, Emma Feltzin ‘26, Bella Brecker ‘26 and Zoe Wolfberg ‘26.
Interact, the community service club, recently announced Project Pumpkin. This annual event celebrates Halloween at Lake Forest Academy with North Chicago elementary schoolers, where LFA’s high school students dress up and pair with a North Chicago student to trick or treat out of the trunks of volunteers’ cars. Interact is led by Caroline Bierig ‘27, Jake Gray ‘26 and Carter Joh ‘27.
LFA’s Amnesty International chapter, led by Amalia Rosen ‘27, Neela Gupta ‘27, Saathvika Narayan ‘26, Riya Kapoor ‘28 and Kendall Phillips ‘28, has hosted a bake sale, with funds being donated to Amnesty International as a way to get club members involved. By the end of October, the club will have finished its annual newsletter, which writes about either human rights crises or victories happening around the world.
The Asian Culture Union (ACU), celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival on October 6, hosting mooncake making and tasting during school. ACU is led by Alexandra Zhu ‘26, Cyrena Yang ‘26, Esther Park ‘26, Hannah Yoon ‘27, Max Bae ‘26, Caden Ye ‘26, Thomas Park ‘27 and Helena Secrest ‘26.
Student Ambassadors, the largest club on campus, is led by Gavin Bailey ‘26, Parker Pollak ‘26 and Maya Greenwood ‘26. The club connects students at LFA with those applying to the school, touring, shadowing and more. Shadowing days began on October 1, College Night was on October 7 and the Fall Open House is on October 27. All these events receive help from the Student Ambassadors Club.
SASU, South Asian Student Union, is led by Narayan, Priya Johnson ‘26, Aadit Mantrow ‘26, Trisha Yannamsetty ‘27 and Sanay Kusumgar ‘26. SASU hosted a memorable All School Meeting, ending with a Just Dance battle between the math department and student volunteers.
Hope for Every Child, a new club this year led by Hunter Hayes ‘28, also hosted a bake sale, with all proceeds going to Hydrocephalus Awareness.
The Club Fair featured around 80 clubs this year, including both new ones and ones that began in 2024. Among them are: AI Club (Sam Baksht ‘27), LFA Agriculture Club (Brody Bierbaum ‘27), Philanthropy Tank (Mia Brandt ‘27 and Juliet Hausman ‘28), Veterans Support Club (Hunter Jones ‘28), Synthetic Biology Club (Bierig), Lamb Farms Club (Kyra Quinn ‘27), Playground Athletics Club (Tej Johnson ‘27) and STEM Racing (Rayan Zaidi ‘29).