The variety of clubs at Jesuit High School Sacramento allows for a rich development of a students personal interests and likings. The newly established J-Talks Club brings a new take on how to do this, by incorporating the popular TED Talks-style of presentation and allowing students to talk about their passions.

The Director of J-Talks Club who also serves as The Plank’s Managing Editor, Luke Kriss ’23, is working to get the club off its feet with two upcoming events. Club co-founder Benjamin Brott ’23 talks about these events and their purpose of presenting interesting topics from students to students.

“So basically we’re trying to replicate the TED Talks environment here at Jesuit,” Ben said. “We just want to create an event that spreads useful information to inspire the students here; that’s kind of our intent.” 

English teacher and club moderator Mr. Grant speaks on how this club showcases the minds of students and teachers, their everyday lives, and their academic undertakings. 

“This community has so many interesting people with such a range of passions and talents,” Mr. Grant said. “As a teacher, I know my students as thinkers and writers and my colleagues as fellow teachers, but I was curious about all the other facets of their lives that aren’t immediately on display. This club lets us get to know one another more fully.”

Over the last few months, J-Talks Club has slowly been growing their following in preparation for their first event on Tuesday, Feb. 15. Kenny Castro ’23, also a co-founder, can attest to this recruitment of students, whether they’re speakers or club members. 

“I helped create this club by getting people involved, and getting the club out to interested people,” said Kenny. “I also helped by getting people interested in the technology side of J-Talks. There are things like sound and lighting that have to be done as well, and I got more people involved in that.” 

With the club’s first event fast approaching, Mr. Grant hopes that it will provide momentum for a bright future in terms of club involvement and other endeavors the club aspires to take up.

“For the first event, we just have student speakers, but our hope is to invite the full range of community-members to give talks after this,” said Mr. Grant. “We’d like to do a second event later in the spring, and this first one will help us build momentum and suggest ideas for improvement as we weave J-Talks into the fabric of Jesuit.”

With these objectives in mind, J-Talks Club hopes to continue to gain more members and grow as a club with components that are invested in what they present and to the audience they present it. These upcoming events will help in these efforts. You can check out their first event this Tuesday during the community period.