Dear Editor,

Manitou Springs High School has its selection of clubs and activities, but that selection should grow to include a book club so that more students belong within Manitou.

Being a quiet, introverted person has wholly shaped my experience with our community, most often for the worst. In Knowledge Bowl, outspoken classmates talk over me. In Movie Club, louder people picked movies that make me uncomfortable, but there was no option other than quitting to escape. I don’t have the same sense of closeness to my classmates because Manitou is just an education to me, not a place where I belong. Other clubs build their community around a mission or interest, more about doing the activity than about who is doing it. Book clubs are unique because they build a community around something solitary for the sake of communicating with others about the content. Manitou has no shortage of books, readers, or teachers to form a book club with. When it doesn’t cost the school anything, a book club at Manitou would give a space for the students like me to have a community here too.

Book clubs let students explore literature across genres, themes, and perspectives. I read one of my favorite books, Six of Crowsby Leigh Bardugo, for the first time because a teacher recommended it. Now, me and my friend talk excitedly during lunch about the plot twists and characters as they read it. I learned of a new favorite author, about myself, and more about my friend through a simple recommendation. High school is a time of emotional learning and growth, and literature allows you to learn in interpersonal and intrapersonal forms.

Community is invaluable, and a book club creates one for students who don’t already have a place.

Sincerely,

Brooke Ferguson