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by Kaje Nielsen
In an increasingly lonesome and close- minded society, it can be hard to find people with interests similar to yours, especially if they aren’t popular interests such as football or drama. Because of this, many students at NS may feel alone if they have unique interests. e goal of the Tabletop Gaming Club is to combat just that, to teach kids that it’s okay to have unique interests and learn new things.
“It’s a club for the people who are generally considered nerdy to come band together and play team-based games that are considered kind of outcasty,” senior Mariah Ashworth said.
e club, also known as the “Nerds of the Round Table,” a racts students who enjoy playing board games and card games. “Dungeons and Dragons” and “Magic: e Gathering” are currently played, but later in the year other games such as “Munch- kin,” “Red Dragon Inn,” “Zombicide” and “Super Dungeon Explorers” will be played.
Meetings are held every other ursday right a er school in Mr. Whipple’s room until about 3:30 p.m. Typically, members provide their own game materials, but any- one is free to come and learn, and can bor- row cards and such from the other mem- bers.
While this club primarily targets “nerds,” people of all social groups are invited to come; it’s simply a club that focuses on having some friendly fun.
“I think the club is really focusing on trying to just allow kids the opportunity to
try something new,” said FACS Educator Sterling Whipple.
During the rst meeting, only around ten to twenty kids a ended, but Whipple feels that by word of mouth and his announcements over the intercom, the size will hopefully escalate.
“If we can get a good enough turnout, we’re going to do tournaments and ra es for all sorts of [things],” senior Ethan Terry said.
Other schools in the Provo and Span- ish Fork area also have tabletop gaming clubs that Terry hopes NS can compete with in the future, but it most likely won’t happen this year as the Tabletop Gaming Club isn’t considered an o cial school club because its foundation failed to meet deadlines.
While there are several cons that the club has for not being o cial, such as not having busses provided for their jaunts, there are some bene ts for it.
“We don’t have speci c requirements, so anybody can join, whether or not their GPA is good,” Ashworth said.
While the club isn’t o cial by the school’s terms, it does have one signi cant similarity to many other school clubs, and that is that it was founded entirely by NS students.
“ is was all done by the students,” Whipple said.
Ashworth is the president of the club and Terry is the vice president. e sec- retary is senior Benjamin Barlow, and the “Media Associations Dude” is senior Zachary Stiglich.
On top of being run entirely by the
students, another appealing aspect of the Tabletop Gaming Club is the joyous atmosphere and positive attitude created by the members.
“When you get all of these extroverted and introverted people together doing the same games, suddenly, they’re all extro- verts,” Ashworth said.
What’s more, the club doesn’t expect perfect a endance like many sports do, and students are not even required to stay the whole time. ey can pop in and out as they need and come with absolutely no prior knowledge of the games because the other members are anxious to teach one another how to play. Students can even introduce to the other members, games of their own.
“If you have a game that you think peo- ple would like to play, we’re open to have you come in [and show us],” Terry said.
Ashworth, Terry, and Whipple all agree that the most important part of the club is to get people to try new things and have fun, without any obligations.
“I think they’re really hoping that this will be an opportunity for kids to try something new that maybe they’ve always wanted to but never had the opportunity to, or to encourage kids to try something new even when it’s never crossed their mind before, but they just got the invita- tion,” Whipple said.
At the Tabletop Gaming Club, every- one is welcome, despite their background.
