French Club

Nora Vansant, French teacher at Nixa High School, has exciting plans for a picnic to give students a chance to bond over the traditional French yard game Pétanque. The club also prepares for cultural celebrations like La Toussaint.
“We are going to play a lot of games and do activities for various holidays this semester,” Vansant said. “For example, we have Halloween, or La Toussaint and we’re going to learn about that while also playing some fun games around that to build a community. We have plans to do a picnic next week and play Pétanque so kids can get to know each other and learn a bit of stuff they wouldn’t have gotten to learn in class.”

FBLA

Sophomore Ava Haynes is in her second year of Future Business Leaders of America and is preparing for a big district competition on Feb. 6. The club is seeing more engagement than before with new leadership roles bringing new energy to the team.
“FBLA is going to stand out more than any other year because we have so many more officers to promote it this year,” Haynes said. “Which is so helpful because everyone is passionate about it and everyone wants to get the word out.”

FFA

Agriculture-based FFA focuses on creating a welcoming environment for new students and helping more people get involved in the community. Sophomore Airiana Tate and other members are preparing their public speaking skills for their upcoming competition in the fall. While it’s mandatory for officers, other members are encouraged to participate as well.
“We are constantly volunteering with different events and constantly giving back to our community,” Tate said. “We try to encourage everyone to get involved and comfortable with others.”

GAGH

Girls After God’s Heart has increasingly grown with support this year with over 30 students showing up at the first meeting. Led by Senior Jocelyn Cosgrove and Sophomore Ava Haynes, the group is focusing on helping girls strengthen their faith in a supportive space. This year, they have started with a vision board, where members mapped out personal goals and reflected on things they’d like to learn.
“Today we had at least 30-35 people which is the most we’ve ever had,” Haynes said. “Usually it’s a circle of about eight or nine of us and we have our little Bibles and Bible study. Today we started our vision boards because it sets out our goals and what we want to see [and] what everyone wants to learn.”

Speech & Debate

Speech and debate started off its first meeting with an introduction for newer students, giving them information on what to expect and how to prepare. With some members like Sophomore Nicolette Fowler, focusing on their events ahead of time, writing informative speeches that require detailed presentations for their competitions in October. Students will be presenting in Missouri and out-of-state.