As the school year begins, students frequently stop by the rock entrance to pet therapy dogs, toy with Play-Doh, or participate in a fun board game. Many new initiatives have been implemented at McLean to create a more positive and less stressful atmosphere.

This year will be Serenity Club’s second year of action as they work to generate a more peaceful and chill environment at McLean.

Serenity Club was created last year by Lana Al-Saloum and Gabi Olmedo, who are both currently juniors. John Allman, a school counselor, also sponsors the club.

The main focus of Serenity Club is to help reduce the pressure students feel from school.

“It’s an important club at McLean because everyone is just so stressed out from competition. So when people come, we can just like destress, socialize, and not think about school or homework,” Al-Saloum said.

At Serenity Club, students participate in calming activities, such as coloring, making positive posters, and conversing with peers.

“It [includes] a lot of activities that people don’t have time for anymore, but by making time, its like [participating in] the fun activities you did in third grade,” Olmedo said. “It’s fun during the week. It’s nice to be able to break up the week and have a set time after school to chill out with friends.”

So far this year, Serenity Club has contributed to the implementation of Stress Less week, an event focused on improving the mental health of students during PSAT week.

“We did a lot of stuff for Stress Less week, and we tried to endorse new activities that would reduce people’s stress, like stress less polls and the therapy dogs,” Al-Saloum said.

On October 31, Serenity Club plans to host a interest meeting right after school in the career center. Future updates for monthly meetings will be posted on the club’s social media.

“We have an Instagram page, [@theserenityclubb], and that’s where we are going to communicate where we have our meetings,” Al-Saloum said.

All students are encouraged to attend meetings and participate in creating a more peaceful atmosphere at school.

“It’s just a great time,” Olmedo said.