FMPA members practicing CPR. FMPA is one of many "under the radar" clubs at CCHS. Photo Credit: BLAKE HUSTEY
BY DAVID DEACON
Cooper City High School has a number of clubs that could be considered “under the radar”, such as Future Medical Professionals of America, United Nations Youth Alliance, and Music Forum.
The Future Medical Professionals of America Club has been a part of Cooper City High School since 2007.
“This club was built to give the members exposure to the medical field, and give an opportunity to see if members want to become a medical professional,” FMPA Sponsor Sharlene Melendez said.
To train for a life as a medical professional, the club teaches their members the fundamentals of a being a doctor, including learning how to take a patient’s temperature or blood pressure, performing mock role plays where one member pretends to have an illness and another member attempts to identify the illness, and registering members in CPR. It’s not just hands-on experience that the club teaches but real doctors and nurses are brought in to give first-hand stories of what the medical profession is like.
“The parent speakers, who are doctors, explain the road they took in becoming a doctor, such as the courses that they took in college,” Melendez said. “Also, the speakers describe personal stories of their doctor adventures, and what’s it like to be working as a medical professional.”
Even with a high attendance rate of around 40 members, it is the parents that keep the club running.
“You should join the Future Medical Professionals of America because this club has all the interests for anyone curious in pursuing a future in the medical field,” Melendez said.
Another interesting, but not well known club is the United Nations Youth Alliance. Compared to other veteran clubs, the UNYA has 20 members and has been around for five years. Similarly to the real United Nations, the CCHS UNYA is dealing with international affairs by spreading awareness of other cultures in Florida and undertaking charities to benefit other countries.
“The inspiration to start this club was to make another club that helps the community, but only projects that aren’t advertised,” UNYA President Shannon Allen said.
On a domestic level, one of the many UN club charities conducted was to make baskets for sexually assaulted kids.
“The best aspect of this club is when you can see the difference that you can make in other lives,” Allen said. “Even when we did the baskets for sexually assaulted kids, it was against the rules to see the children, but when we gave the baskets to the people working there, they were very appreciative of what we did.”
On an international level, the UNYA is helping with Dresses for Africa, a charity that makes dressed for African girls. The reason why this club is so successful with their charities is that they have people who care and want to make sure the charities are finished. Through their numerous charities, the UN hopes to become more known as a club and have more community projects.
“Students should join this club is because it’s more intimate than Key Club, you have more of a say, and it’s a great way to make a difference, and not just in the backyard,” Allen said.
Perhaps one of the most “under the radar” clubs is the Music Forum Club. In its fourth year at CCHS, this club has 20 members. Even though the club is mostly made up of band students and is a club about music, the club wants members that aren’t in band. Music Forum hopes to try and get students into music and understand it better.
“The club was created to peer critique a person’s musical piece or to alter their playing style, anything to help perfect a member’s performance,” Music Forum President Sydney Bleiweiss said.
Other than trying to get non-band students to join, Music Forum wants members who want to perform and like to participate. The club attempts to do this by teaching members how to get past criticism and stage fright. Once members can overcome these they can improve on their music.
“Music Forum club evokes the musical side of a person by making members want to perform more, which leads to better performers and a desire to have more performances,” Music Forum Vice President Sharon Kay said.
Unfortunately, after a prosperous first year, the Music Forum Cub has experienced a state of declining members. One strategy that they hope will reverse the decline is to restart having lunch concerts again under the red awning. Although members mostly play classical music, the club wants to have an increase in other styles of music. The main way that the club goes about this is to have a daily question on the sign-up sheet, asking members what their favorite type of music is.
“Students should join this club is because they will be exposed to new music and a new side of their peers,” Bleiweiss said.
