Follow Your Passion or Discover a New One with SGHS Clubs and ActivitiesGet Involved
Saint Gertrude students’ interests are widespread, and clubs provide learning beyond the classroom. With several clubs to choose from, these student-run organizations are a space for students to cultivate leadership skills and teamwork. Students in all grades can join clubs that reflect their interests, or they can start their own (and they do!). Every club has a faculty advisor and a student club leader who organizes meetings and events—another opportunity to enhance communication and leadership skills.
The Sponsors program is a long-standing tradition between Benedictine College Preparatory and Saint Gertrude High School. Each of the approximately 20 top-ranking officers at Benedictine College Prep ask a Saint Gertrude senior to be the “Sponsor” of his military company or department for the year. Sponsors attend and participate in various informal and formal military events throughout the school year. In addition, Sponsors and Sponsoring Officers work together to collaborate with administration from both schools to plan and execute the annual Benedictine Schools of Richmond Day of Service.
The purpose of the Honor Council is to educate the student body on the ‘spirit of honor’ within the school community. Also, the council handles violations of the Honor Code. With each member serving a two-year term, the Honor Council consists of six members, three from the senior class and three from the junior class. A faculty moderator oversees the Honor Council and attends all hearings.
The Model Judiciary Program is a joint effort between the Virginia YMCA and the Young Lawyers Section of the Virginia Bar Association. This program is designed to give students from Virginia high schools the opportunity to gain first-hand experience with the operation of our judicial system. Students work throughout the year to take on the roles of lawyers and witnesses on one side of a trial that will be presented before a real judge. Students in the past have had the opportunity to go on and present arguments at the appellate level and before the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Yearbook is offered as a year-long elective course. Students on the yearbook staff learn skills in layout, design, writing, and editing a major publication using a web-based software program. Staff members are also involved in providing photography coverage for school events and creating graphics. Tower members are creative preservers of school history as they design an imaginative and fun record of the school year for posterity.
The World Language Club is inclusive of all students who study or have studied a foreign language at Saint Gertrude. The goals of the club are to increase awareness of our multicultural community and to improve, practice, or learn different languages with peers as often as possible. The club creates engagement with the BSoR community through a variety of culturally specific events organized by students, including but not limited to an international potluck dinner, school-wide weekly trivia, the World Language Week trivia game, a Chinese New Year celebration and scavenger hunt, and a Mardi Gras and Carnival party and parade.
Sponsored by the Virginia YMCA, members of Model General Assembly gain a greater sense of civic responsibility while interacting with students from throughout the state of Virginia. The group will research and sponsor bills to be debated in the student-operated Model General Assembly. Students journey to the Virginia State Capitol for a long weekend in the spring, taking on the roles of senators, delegates, pages, lobbyists, and reporters to get a hands-on view of how state government works and how a bill becomes a law.
Stuart Avenue Players is a club for students interested in drama, including acting, technical theater, and attending live performances. Activities include participation onstage or backstage for Saint Gertrude’s fall musical, winter one-act play, and spring play; drama workshops with guest speakers; group tickets to community shows, and backstage theater tours. Student members direct the one-act play, suggest ideas for future school musicals and plays, and inform the school about theater activities and opportunities.
The purpose of the SCA (Student Cooperative Association) is to provide opportunities for student leadership and to establish a spirit of cooperation between the student body, the faculty, and the administration. Members of the SCA are elected by the students and faculty approval is required. The SCA president, vice-president, and secretary/treasurer are elected school-wide, and each individual class elects two SCA class representatives. The president of the SCA represents the students on the PTSO Board.