You are probably familiar with clubs like Student Council, National Honors Society, or Robotics, but there are plenty more organizations under Lafayette’s roof. Because we can’t cover all 57 clubs in the building, The Lancer Feed staff decided to include just five clubs that we believe remain unknown to the greater Lafayette community.

Using Open Rocket modeling and simulation software, senior Ahan Singh and the rocketry club designed this rocket for The American Rocketry Challenge last year. (Contributed by Ahan Singh)

As a participant in The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC), rocketry club, sponsored by CTE teacher Jodie Fowler, competes at the national level. 

Inspired by the success of Marquette High School in TARC, senior Ahan Singh founded the club last year. 

“I have always been into aviation and rocketry and I have a couple of friends at Marquette and they have a similar rocketry club that competes in TARC,” Singh said.

After securing Fowler as his sponsor, Singh created the club and hosted the first meeting in her classroom.

“When Ahan first started [the club] he got so many kids in this room. My classroom’s only supposed to keep 24 and there were over,” Fowler said.

Fowler had to open the door between her room and her neighbor, CTE teacher Mark McAllister, to have space for all the students interested in the club.

“And then they found out you had to work a lot on the weekends and on your own time and half the people disappeared,” Fowler said.

Now, the club has around 18 members according to Singh.

“Anybody who is interested in engineering, or enjoys building things with their hands, or is just interested in aviation in general, I would recommend them to join,” Singh said.

After setting up the launch equipment, Singh and the club shot off their first rocket at Buder Park last year.

“The first time you hit the button, and it shoots up in the sky is a really cool experience,” Singh said.

In TARC, rocketeers are given a target height for their rocket to reach, a target time for the rocket to launch and land and one or two eggs that must remain intact in the rocket’s top portion.

For each launch, rocketeers also need a National Association of Rocketry (NAR) official to inspect their rockets before flight. 

“You have a member from the NAR come and they watch your flights, record all the data and you get an email a couple months later with the results,” Singh said.

Singh and the rocketry club registered for TARC 2026 last weekend and they will submit their qualification flights in April.

As the club’s sponsor, Fowler provides materials, a space for club meetings, and a software program for modeling called Open Rocket.

“I think kids sometimes, especially my students, just like to tinker and play with things and find out ‘what does this do’, ‘or why does this work this way,’ or ‘how can I make this better?’” Fowler said.

Anyone interested in joining rocketry club is welcome to email CTE teacher Jodie Fowler at [email protected].

With eight inches of snow on the ground, Orienteering members (front row, from left), junior Siddharth Muddhana, junior Cole Kirberg, senior Jacob Ward, senior Andrea Olsen, junior Savannah Marta; (back row) junior Tej Atwal, sophomore Deagen Mclaughlin, junior Sydney Helm, junior Jamie Olsen, junior Zoe Lampman pose for a picture before the “Tame the Dragon” event at Lake of the Ozarks State Park, Feb. 22, 2025. (Contributed by Rob Jakcsy)

According to orienteering club sponsor and AFJROTC teacher Rob Jakcsy, orienteering is, “racing but with a compass and a map.”

In orienteering, participants use a map and a compass to find their way to control points in unfamiliar locations, often parks or forests.

While many members of the club have orienteering experience from past events, the club holds practice sessions to teach new members.

“They have a map of the area, they get the students together, they hand out compasses and a map, and they give them points to navigate towards. It teaches them the basic skills of map reading and compass reading,” Jakcsy said.

The orienteering club is split into three groups: fast, medium and slow.

“There is a reason to go fast if you want to win, but the opportunity to be out and about is great,” Jakcsy said.

Most of the events that the club participates in are organized by the St. Louis Orienteering Club (STLOC) including “Tame the Dragon,” an eight-hour-long course at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Under the name MO-81st Blue, Lafayette placed 6th out of all teams at the event Feb. 22, 2025.

“It was really challenging but that’s why it was fun, and it was a great experience for me and all the people participating,” junior orienteering club member Savannah Marta said.

The club typically completes eight or nine events each year, often participating in one each month. The club will be participating in the “Tame the Dragon” event again this year, Feb. 28.

While the orienteering club consists of exclusively AFJROTC students, the club is very open to accepting new members.

“[Orienteers] are outdoorsy kind of people. People who like to be outdoors would enjoy the sport,“ Jakcsy said. “[Orienteering] appeals to everybody and there is something for everyone.”

Anyone interested in joining orienteering club is welcome to email AFJROTC teacher Rob Jakcsy at [email protected].

As the name suggests, breakfast and board games club members bring in breakfast items, like donuts, muffins, coffee and orange juice, and play board games, like Scrabble and Exploding Kittens, before school once every two weeks.

Senior founding members Nat Marles, Luke Thomas and Sam Walowitz started the club last year with former journalism teacher Bill Rawson. Science teacher Libby Overcash now sponsors the club 

“[The club] is mostly a group of senior boys, and they just want to come in and play board games and eat donuts,” Overcash said.

The club typically receives 10 to 15 players each meeting, according to Ms. Overcash.

“It’s a fun way to reset before school and come in on a positive note,” Overcash said. “And who doesn’t love processed sugar early in the morning?”

The club’s favorite board game to play is Catan.

“Catan is so fun but the worst part is that we never get to finish the game,” Walowitz said. “It’s a Monopoly type of game so it takes hours.”

Walowitz’s favorite memory from the club is the Christmas-themed meeting they had last year. 

“On top of the donuts and muffins we brought, we tried to make it festive by bringing hot chocolate and some games that were Christmas style.”

Although the club is mostly made up of senior boys, Walowitz and the other members are open to new people joining.

“If you love free food, and you love playing games, the club is a lot of fun,” Walowitz said.

Anyone interested in joining breakfast and board games club is welcome to email science teacher Libby Overcash at [email protected].

Sponsored by language arts teacher Paul Jaycox, the Dungeons & Dragons club gives a space for Lafayette students to play the tabletop, fantasy, storytelling game during ac-lab.

“Once a month, [at the club] students can either get together, organize a game and start playing or if they are new and want to learn, they can talk to members that have more experience,” Jaycox said.

The club typically hosts 18 to 20 adventurers at its monthly meetings, but long-term members seniors Nat Marles and Nigel Worthington and junior Landon Jenne organize the club.

“D&D is a really hard game to schedule and just have a time in school with new people to play with,” Marles said.

Marles and his friends, who played D&D together at Rockwood Valley, joined the Lafayette D&D club after it was revived by Class of 2023 alum James Bodnar, Class of 2024 alum Noah Keaton and Class of 2025 alum Blake Jaycox in 2023. 

“Everyone in the club is aligned and because we are on the same page it is just good vibes all the way through,” Marles said. “Jaycox knows everything so if you have any questions [about D&D], he knows, which is awesome.” 

Marles’ favorite part about the club is the community that it provides.

“It is a ton of fun. You get to essentially do whatever you want in a fantasy setting and if you want to join, talk to Mr. Jaycox,” Marles said.

Anyone interested in joining Dungeons & Dragons club is welcome to email language arts teacher Paul Jaycox at [email protected].

Formerly known as “Anime Club,” Animation & Film Club is led by sophomore president Lena Hawver and sponsor Ms. O’Donnell. 

In their once-a-month meetings, club members make short films “ranging from classics to animations,” Hawver said. 

Hawver’s favorite thing about the club is that students can work on their own animations and films.

“[Students value] getting to show their creativity that they might not get to show in their day-to-day life,” Hawver said. 

O’Donnell adds that the club teaches students editing skills.

“Whether they’re editing film or animation, you’re going to use that skill in different areas,” O’Donnell said. 

Currently, there are about 15 Animation & Film Club members, but any students interested in joining are welcome to email Ms. O’Donnell at [email protected] for the onboarding form.