The Game Development club is one that has abruptly disappeared from Lake Central this year.  The absence of teacher Rita Chavez, computer science, is responsible for its de-facto cancellation, and although its student leaders will still attempt to run the club themselves, it won’t be happening in any official capacity.

   “The club might be able to continue, but probably not this year as an in-person club.  The new teacher can’t support the club because she has to pick up her kid right after school,” Matthew Tigges (12), one of the senior heads of the club alongside Julian Sahagun (12), said.

  Ms. Chavez, who previously headed this extracurricular activity, explained the reasoning behind her departure.  She did care about Game Development, and although retiring for the sake of her own health was more important, Chavez expressed support for the club and the students’ ability to accomplish work.

  “I retired from Lake Central due to COVID.   I was not willing to put my health or life in jeopardy by teaching in person, and my family would be devastated if something happened to me, but I never intended to have it stop.  I was an unpaid sponsor, but I enjoyed the club and recruited leaders for it after its first year.  It was easy to sponsor; the leaders did all the work and it was free to students, so there wasn’t any fundraising. I already had my computer lab and stayed until at least 4:00 on Fridays anyway,” Chavez said.

   These two seniors are making an active effort to maintain Game Development despite the limitations of the school’s lack of recognition for the club.  For example, they’ll have to keep existing members busy or potentially look for new ones, without the authority to issue advertisements or school announcements.  Such a challenge is one that will keep these student leaders busy throughout the school year.  Meanwhile, they plan to use their existing infrastructure on social media to maintain contact with students.

   “We’ll probably just do it online in Discord calls in [our club’s] channel. We probably won’t attempt to find new members this year, but if anyone wanted to join, then I’d be fine with that,” Tigges said.

   It hasn’t been decided when Game Development will begin its activities this year.  However, they seem eager to start when they see that some members are ready.

   “As soon as we believe we are ready to get started, we will hold a meeting once every week for an hour to catch up on individual progress.  As long as we can find a few new interested people, it will be fine,” Sahagun said.

   The seniors remain optimistic that they can find a teacher willing to support this extracurricular, which will be necessary to preserve it for future years.  Otherwise, it’s unclear how long the club will be able to support itself without new members or a physical location.

   “I do care quite a bit about this club, as I’ve been a part of it since I was a freshman.  I hope the club can continue as it did in the previous years if everything is back to normal next year,” Tigges said.

   While Sahagun feels like he missed out this year with the inability to run Game Development at its capacity, he maintains a positive outlook and still believes that the club can function normally.

  “I feel like it will be more difficult to teach this club like it was taught in the previous years, and it might be less accessible as not everyone has a computer at home.  With that said, I believe that if there are enough people that are motivated to work through these difficulties, it will go well,” Sahagun said.