Dimond High School has recently gained a spectacular addition to its long list of now-38 clubs, according to the Dimond High School website.

       Women’s Issues Club was created this fall by Naomi Cashion, a junior, and Chelsea Bruce, a sophomore.

       Cashion, co-president of the club, said, “I was inspired to create this club because I had never seen a club like it in the past couple of years I’ve been here.”

       Chelsea Bruce, co-president of the club with Naomi, said, “I wanted women our age to be more aware and to help women that need help.”

     Bruce continued, “We meet every Thursday at lunch. Ms. Brewer is our sponsor, but Ms. Anderson helps us out at meetings as  well.”

       At the clubs first meeting they had an amazing turn out. Over 50 people showed up ready to engage in the clubs activities.

       This is an extremely large turnout considering that most clubs have around 15 members aside from the larger community service clubs, according to the Dimond High School’s website.

     Having clubs at school provides students with the opportunity to follow their passions and meet people who have the same interests.

         It is important to have outlets in the community where students can safely express their opinions and fight for what they believe in.

       Racquel Micheletto, a senior at Dimond, said, “At this point I don’t have time on Thursdays to attend meetings for the club; however, I hope the best for them because I know how the statistics involving women in Alaska are much higher than the other states and that’s obviously a problem worth discussing and solving.”

        In Women’s Issues Club, they will be both volunteering at women’s shelters and raising money for women in need.

       “We think one project will be a donation project where all of the donations go to AWAIC [Abused Women’s Aid In Crisis],” said Bruce.

      One of their main goals is to get involved with Planned Parenthood.

       Alaska has very high sexual abuse rates and violence against women rates.

       As teenagers in Anchorage, standing up and speaking for other women can create a safe environment for those in need, and can spread awareness about the issue and it’s possible solutions.

      Cashion said, “Anyone is welcome to join Women’s Issues Club. We will take in as many ideas as we can to the club as to what people want to do in the community, especially volunteering.

      “We hope to see more and more people join the club and we can’t wait to see everything we’ll be able to do in order to benefit women’s issues,” Cashion said.

           Both presidents of the club wanted to share messages to the community about how they can help.

          Bruce and Cashion said, “to the students at Dimond, anyone is welcome to join our club.”

           Being a part of such a large group of people that care about the safety of women not only in Alaska, but all over the world is empowering and thought provoking for students.

           Emerson Embly, a senior at Dimond, said, “I’d like to join Women’s Issues Club as they begin to get involved with Planned Parenthood. I fully support women receiving their help and I would like to see the club help them out.

          “If for any reason they are not able to get involved I hope that in the future they can make sure to assist women around Dimond dealing with this issue. Teenage pregnancy is way too overlooked,” Emily said.

           Micheletto continued, “I want to see the club do work with the orphanage downtown. There are a lot of young girls there who could use donations of clothing and overall they just want support and if the club could have girls go weekly or like every other week I know that would mean the world for them to hang out with older girls.”

        As the club continues to grow and gains more opportunities, it will be fascinating to watch as they take on the challenge of understanding and helping solve women’s issues.