With the plethora of clubs and activities that are hosted here on the Hill, it can often be difficult to decide which ones are of interest to a student. 

A club that stands out from the rest, however, is Champions Together, which is run by juniors Melissa Sheppard, Meg Hasch, Sabrina Ackley, Catherine Holtrup and sophomore Bryce Hahn. Ackley said that these students are working to “help people in need and see how what we do impacts the actual lives of other people.” 

Champions Together is by no means a new club on the Hill. According to Senior Vice President for Admission and Advancement Mr. Dave Worland, Champions Together has been around for a couple of years, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the group had to take a step back while following safety guidelines. 

Worland said, “(The biggest challenge of the past year) was building connections, but because of the last year and a half where we had to shut down face to face interactions due to the Covid epidemic, that was a huge challenge because we could no longer greet face to face and interact whether that be basketball games, track meets (or other evens), so that was just a huge challenge that we went through, but that’s behind us quite a bit.”

With Covid-19 hopefully soon to be in the past, assuming everything goes well, the Champions Together leadership group has their eyes set on future activities. Hahn said, “The basketball clinic is our next project. It is essentially where we have members of the Special Olympics organizations of Indiana come in during our basketball game with Roncalli, and this way we’re able to educate more people while also having a little bit of fun.”

The basketball clinic is not the only activity on the radar for this group. The main focus of the year is the annual Polar Plunge event. It is a fundraiser for Special Olympics during which a student raises $85 and is able to take the plunge into the Eagle Creek River as a means to raise awareness. Hahn said, “This year, the Polar Plunge will take place on March 4. All you need to do is sign up, and you can find the link on our Instagram, or ask any of us and then raise the minimum $85 and then you get to take the plunge with the rest of us.” 

The Champions Together Instagram can be found @chs.championstogether.

While all of these events sound appealing, there are even more reasons as to why students should join Champions Together. Holtrup said, “It’s such a great opportunity to hang out with people that you might not ever normally be around. It’s fun to be around and you get to raise money and donate your time to something that you know will go to a good cause.”

Often here on the Hill, students learn about participating in service and giving back to the community and those in need, but opportunities to do so may be hard to come by. Champions Together offers a solution to students who enjoy working with others. 

Worland said, “Those who are looking for a service-oriented type of activity where they can make friends not only at (school) but outside of that, especially with people who have special needs and are different from them, (should consider joining). I think that students who have that make-up should do it because I think this is an opportunity for them to meet their passions.”

For those students who want to become involved, there are plenty of opportunities to do so. By helping at the clinic, raising money for the Polar Plunge or simply joining the club to help out when needed, there is always something to do. To get involved, contact one of the members of the leadership team, including Hahn, Sheppard, Hasch, Holtrup or Ackley, or email Worland and he will connect you to someone involved. 

Worland said, “I think that (people) should know that our students, the leadership, have already done some remarkable things, but I just want to let our readers know that we’ve already done so much so far.”