Sophomores and Criminology Club co-presidents Lila Sinetar and Mackenzie Sheehy came up with the idea for their club in November 2023.
“I wanted to start this club because I have an interest in criminology and wanted to share that with my peers,” Sinetar told The Fanscotian. “I thought this [club] would be a fun way to enhance my knowledge on various aspects of the criminology field.”
Both Sinetar and Sheehy agreed that they wanted to start a club that would provide enjoyment for themselves and others, as well as allow them to build onto their college applications.
In mid-November, Sinetar and Sheehy began the motions to start their club. Sheehy approached her sophomore English teacher, Kyle Townsend, to ask him if he would be the advisor for their club.
“I have [Townsend] as an English teacher so I knew how engaging of a person he is, and for that reason [Sinetar and I] thought he would be a good advisor for us and [would] keep us on track [with] where we need to be,” Sheehy said.
The club plans to meet once a month during lunch–roughly around 11:15 a.m.–to discuss their plans and explore their interest in criminology.
Sheehy and Sinetar hope to organize many fun criminology-related activities, including learning about crime and cold cases, watching clips from documentaries or televised interviews, solving cold case games and hosting guest speakers.
“We are currently in the process of getting our first guest speaker for our club,” Sinetar said. “We hope to have many more in the future and also hope to host fundraisers for our club.”
The club has many board positions that interested members applied for through a Google form on the Criminology Club Google Classroom. Positions included social media manager, flier designer, researcher, secretary and membership chair.
The first meeting of the club was canceled on Jan. 19 due to inclement weather. The girls rescheduled the meeting to the following Monday, Jan. 22, where they had a wonderful turnout.
“I think that anyone who is interested in crime topics will enjoy and benefit from this club,” Sheehy said. “If you join the criminology club you will be deepening your knowledge on famous crime cases, and maybe even helping your peers learn more. You will also definitely enjoy the documentaries we will be watching and the guest speakers that will be presenting.”
In the future, the club hopes to host bake sales, game days, as well as the previously mentioned guest speakers.
“The goal of the criminology club regarding the future is to have members that are passionate about the topic of criminology, and are genuinely interested in deepening their knowledge in criminology,” Sheehy said. “We hope to keep our current members engaged and to keep the new members coming!”
