April Kato
Club booths and PALs members welcome students to Fun Friday. The first Fun Friday took place last week, during lunchtime on April 26.
The school’s first Fun Friday, organized by the school’s Peer Assistant Leaders was held last week in collaboration with the TPHS Foundation.
“It was super successful and it was great to see that student connection during lunch and people having activities to do other than just sitting on their phones,” Caitlyn Vanhoose (11), current treasurer and future vice president of PALs, said.
The first Fun Friday featured booths from the Crafts for Care Club, Bracelet Making Club and the Food Culture Club.
“Our clubs were definitely a hit, and all the crafts had great participation,” Vanhoose said. “We’re definitely going to try and do it again as many times as we can next year in order to continue student engagement during lunch.”
Fun Fridays grew out of the need for further student involvement and connection on campus.
The TPHS Foundation first introduced the idea to PALs, with an intention of “creating a space where students feel like they can connect at lunch time,” according to Angela Wilden, PALs advisor and chemistry teacher.
“PALs decided to start Fun Friday because we noticed there was a lack of student engagement on campus, especially during lunch,” Zahra Alam (10), a member of the PALs Digital Committee, said. “People would often sit in their cars or go off campus. Because of this, we wanted to build a fun event that would get students excited about staying on campus during lunch.”
PALs also provided snacks and games during the event. The next Fun Friday will be held at the end of May, and the lunch event is expected to continue through next year.
“Parents expressed interest in having more on campus activities that foster more student engagement,” Vanhoose said.
Aside from parent input, Challenge Day also sparked the creation of Fun Friday.
“It came out of Challenge Day because parents really liked that it was connecting the Torrey Pines community of students together,” Vanhoose said. “So we created Fun Friday to create a smaller sample size of that, and pulled on how popular club rush day is, so we’re going to host clubs that can attract attention and have activities for attendees to do.”
Starting with one just Fun Friday per month, PALs hopes to increase the frequency next year.
“These are students who have a passion for helping other students feel connected, healthy and well,” Wilden said.