Circle of Friends mixer kicks off new year for club

Samo's Circle of Friends club held a mixer in the Humanities Center at lunch on Oct. 19 for club members to meet each other and their buddies, the special education students they will work with this year.According to club adviser Malikah Nu-man, the mixer had a good turnout even though many special education students were not present due to illness and detention. During the mixer, club officers introduced themselves and Nu-Man spoke about the goals of the club, introduced various club administrators and asked about student thoughts on the club.According to Nu-Man, Circle of Friends has fewer members this year than last year. However, senior officer Camilla Spielman said that this will strengthen the club because there will be no overlap."I think it's better because in past years we had official positions and everyone ended up contributing the same thing," Spielman said.According to senior and club member Makenna Dano, the club's smaller number of members could have a positive influence on the relationships shared between general education students and special education students."I'm excited that it is more internal so we can form better relationships with our buddies," Dano said. "It's a really important thing [that] members of the club form real relationships ."According to Nu-Man, Circle of Friends hopes to see stronger bonds form between Circle of Friends members and will possibly have more mixers during the course of the year. Dano said that running the club will be the job of the students this year, with less assistance from the administration."I'm excited that there's going to be a shift from administration to students [because] we can make decisions for the student body," Dano said. "I am excited that it's becoming more internal so we can form better relationships with our buddies."mytarr@thesamohi.com