by Carolina Contreras
After school every other Thursday in E105, English teacher Andrea Haapanen hosts a craft club. Haapanen started the club after her student Faith Harlo asked if she would advise it. She just wanted space after school to do crafts with her friends because she really likes crafting.
That was not her only reason for starting the club. “All my friends were doing sports, and I’m not into sports. I like art, and I’m going to be at this school for awhile, so I wanted to do something I could enjoy.”
“I couldn’t say no to that,” Haapanen said. “It’s the cutest request ever.”
So far the craft club has created yarn letters and glitter magnets. Their next project is to make different ornaments.
Finding ideas for projects is not tough these days because of social media. “We basically go through Pinterest and see what we can do cheaply and quickly, and that’s our craft. It’s nice because I’m not crafty, but if I can do it anybody can do it,” Haapanen said.
The club has on average seven to eight people who attend meetings. They are mostly eighth grade girls, but one or two sophomores have come.
Crafting can be expensive, but that hasn’t been a problem. “We’ve had a lot of things donated by other staff. I put out an email that I needed yarn, and people brought me tons of yarn, which is great. It’s been a mix of me putting in some money and donations from staff.”
Even though most of the members are people she knows, she hopes new people will join.