This year, seniors Brandon Verna and Boris Litvak founded the Italian Club and German Club, respectively. These new clubs seek to bring increased cultural awareness to the high school.  

“I started this club because I am part Italian, I am very interested in Italian culture, and I speak the language,” Verna said. “I think they have a beautiful culture, and I would like to try to share that with other people throughout the school.”

Verna likes to vary the club’s activities day by day. On the day we spoke, the group viewed a presentation on the election of Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. In the future, Verna hopes to incorporate several new aspects such as authentic Italian food and media such as film and television. 

The Italian Club is also looking forward to the arrival of a new student who could make a great addition to the club as well as the student body as a whole. 

“We have an Italian exchange student coming in and she’s very eager to join the club and teach us even more than I would be able to, as a native Italian,” Verna said. 

The German Club has focused more on learning the German language, but takes time to introduce students to German culture as well. Litvak, who is fluent in German, wanted to make up for the lack of a German course at the high school. German was previously offered, but was discontinued several years ago.  

“I was thinking I would bring the German culture and German language back and see how people would take that,” Litvak said. 

Members of this new club have taken it quite well, owing in large part to its charismatic founder. 

“I thought it would be an interesting club and I thought Boris was the only person who could really pull this one off,” sophomore Nick Humphrey said.

Litvak greatly appreciates the passion of the club’s members and is excited for the future of the club. He hopes to harness this passion to organize events and teach the broader community about the German language and culture.

Both clubs meet during Spartan periods, with the Italian Club meeting on Day 2 and the German Club meeting on Day 1. Students seeking to join Italian Club or German Club should email advisors Mrs. Sheryl Ciotti or Mr. David Krial, respectively. 

Those involved in these new clubs recognize their broader importance. They view cultural awareness as an essential element of education. 

“[Italian Club] gives a different perspective from a different part of the world,” Verna said, “and I think that’s very important, for Southern Lehigh students to be worldly and understand what’s going on not just in their immediate community but what’s going on in the world community.”