With students visiting different service booths and a long line of customers for the Empowering Hearts club bake sale, the Archer in Action Fair was in full swing Oct. 17 in the courtyard.
Service is an integral part of the Archer upper school experience, beginning in the ninth grade Understanding the Contemporary World social studies course. Students begin by filling out a service and activism learning proposal at the end of year and have the opportunity to pursue their projects and earn the bronze, silver and gold awards over the following three years.
The fair, primarily organized by Archer’s Service Squad, is a chance for students in grades 10-12 to share their service projects and inspire ninth graders and middle schoolers to discover their own service passions. Students who aim to receive silver and gold service awards are required to hold a booth to present their affiliated service organization.
Junior Olivia Hallinan-Gan works with organizations Headcount and YOUth Can Vote, and she has attended over 20 events with Headcount this year. The group’s mission is to help teenagers over the age of 16 become pre-registered to vote and adults 18 and older registered to vote. Hallinan-Gan brought her work with YOUth Can Vote to Archer through her club YOUth Can Vote, and she has worked to write cards to in Arizona. She said that Archer having this space to host student activists and their service projects shows the community how they can get involved with pressing issues.
“I think it’s important to get people registered to vote because we’re not a true democracy unless everyone votes,” Hallinan-Gan said. “It’s really, truly not representation in Congress or in the Senate or anything where people vote, if not everyone is voting, because not everyone’s voice is heard.”
During the fair, the Empowering Hearts club, led by juniors Ava McQuade and Emily Paschall, hosted a bake sale to help fund a breast cancer vaccine, with all proceeds going to the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Club member Darian Weiss (’26) said having this space is significant for students to share causes students are passionate about, especially when certain issues affect students personally. Paschall’s childhood nanny passed away from breast cancer, and McQuade’s mom is a breast cancer survivor.
“I love that Archer gives students the ability to express their concerns, whether it’s something personal or something that just they see in the world that they want to act on,” Weiss said. “I think that’s really important, no matter what the cause is. I love how we have an Archer in Action Fair to display all of these causes that people care about.”
Senior Julianna Hatton works with For Goodness Cakes, a non-profit that bakes cakes for foster youth. She said the club allows her to combine her love for baking and show how small actions can have great impact on those who can often go unnoticed in our communities. For many students, the Archer in Action Fair inspires them to pursue their own service projects and connect with their peers interested in similar excursions said.
“I think Archer, by creating this space, really encourages students to get involved in service. I don’t think [For Goodness Cakes] is something I would have gotten involved in without Archer support,” Hatton said. “I think this Archer in Action fair is so great because you get to see what other members of the Archer community are doing with their free time. We are there supporting and the impact they’re making, and you’re able to be inspired and learn from that.”
