Clubs and Activities
Carmel Catholic High School offers more than just academics. Students have an opportunity to express themselves and excel in ministry, athletics, the arts and more. By participating in extracurricular activities, students develop skills such as leadership, working with others, responsibility and self-discipline. The school strongly encourages all students to become involved in at least one extra-curricular activity and in fact, most students participate in several.
Clubs
Moderator: Mr. Zell
The Art Club provides students with an opportunity to draw, paint and craft in an informal setting. Art Club meets weekly throughout the school year. Students may work with various media such as pencil, colored pencil, ink, watercolor, ceramics, and much more.
Moderator: Mrs. Coppins
Black Student Union
The Black Student Union strives to empower students through cultural enrichment, academic and intellectual growth, and social engagement. This club is open to all students, regardless of race, but is focused on issues related to the black experience.
Moderator: Mrs. Fitzpatrick
Bicycle Club
The Bicycle Club is open to all students. Students will go on bike rides on the trails of Lake County throughout the fall and spring. The group rides at a casual pace and riders of all skill levels are welcome. The club will watch videos, learn how to fix basic bike-related issues, and go to spin classes during the winter. To view some of the activities the club has done, please visit the club's Twitter page.
Moderators: Mr. Schultz and Mr. Barclay
Membership in Boosters II is open to all students. Boosters II promotes the active participation of students in athletics and social activities. The primary events Boosters II sponsors are pep rallies and spirit week activities.
Moderators: Ms. Kurek and Mrs. Adams
Classics Club
Classics Club’s focus examines the world of the Greeks and Romans, and the adjacent civilizations that influenced or were influenced by them. The club will look at social practices, unique contributions, and even daily habits. Anyone interested in the ancient Mediterranean world can join.
Moderator: Mrs. Bertaud
Crossroads
Crossroads is the Carmel Catholic Student Newspaper featured online at carmelcrossroads.com. Launched during the 2020-21 school year, “Crosstalk” posters visually display highlights of current student news throughout the school.
Moderator: Mrs. Eccles
Culture and Community Club
Our goal is to share and celebrate different customs and holidays from all over the world. Explore the world around us and the beauty of its people. Come and learn about the different cultures.
Moderators: Mrs. Young
Current Events Club
Moderators: Mr. Covek and Mr. Ptacek
Debate Club
Moderator: TBD
Diversity and Equity Council
Embracing Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si, Carmel’s Environmental Club will expand environmental awareness throughout the Carmel community focusing upon “caring for our common home.” This club brings together like-minded individuals committed to studying, preserving, and taking actions to improve the condition of our environment as well as raise awareness in the CCHS community about conservation and sustainability. The club encourages recycling and responsible care of the Earth. The promotion of social justice through environmental stewardship will be evident in events throughout the year and culminating in celebration during Earth Week.
Moderator: Mrs. Titterton
Fem in STEM
Moderator: Mrs. Major
Film Club
Film Club is open to all students and meets at least once a month to view, discuss and enjoy the art of film.
Moderator: Mr. Franklin
French Club
The French Club is an academic club, thus an extension of the French classroom. Special events such as guest speakers, Mardi Gras celebration, and the St. Nicholas Day celebration are also scheduled. Students visit a local French restaurant to enjoy French cuisine.
Moderator: Ms. Kurek
Game Club
The Game Club provides students the opportunity to play games as the group desires - current interests range from traditional board games, card games, to esports and video gaming. Students meet once a month and new members are always welcome to join the club.
Moderator: Mr. Solarz
Harbinger
The Harbinger, published each May, is Carmel Catholic’s nationally recognized literary magazine. It is designed to give recognition to talented writers and artists. The Harbinger provides an opportunity for students to act as the editors, layout designers, and business staff of a literary magazine. Students annually build the publication from scratch using Adobe InDesign.
Moderators: Ms. Nieminski and Ms. Murczek
Intramurals
This program provides students with enjoyable opportunities to utilize their learned skills in actual competitive situations. There are places for all students, regardless of the degree of skill development, age, or field of specialization. Intramurals will run similar to open gym. Although students may form teams in advance, any interested student may walk in to join a team in the sport of that day.
Moderators: Mr. Pazely and Mr. Rank
K Pop Club
During club meetings, we will talk about our favorite groups, news in the Kpop world and our opinions on different Kdrama's. We will watch kdrama's and MV's. We will also learn about Korean culture and language.
Moderator: Mr. Donner
Nuestra Voz
The program is open to all Hispanic, Latino, and Afro-Latino students attending Carmel Catholic High School. Nuestra Voz's goal is to share with Carmel Catholic High School the different Latino/Hispanic cultures and customs as well as provide student support to our Hispanic student community.
Moderator: Mrs. Young
PAWed (People for Animal Welfare and Education) Club
PAWed is open to all students who love animals and desire to better the lives of animals. Students who are interested in veterinary medicine may be particularly drawn to this club as well as any one who wants to work or volunteer in the field of animal welfare.
Moderator: Ms. Budris
Photography Club
Photography enthusiasts to serious photographers, all students are welcome to practice their camerawork with fun, themed submissions, on-campus photoshoots, and off-campus field trips. Students share discussions on trends in social media and photography. Students exhibit their photographs around campus as traditional prints or experiment with crafts. Professional equipment NOT required to participate - bring your smartphones or your point-and-shoots, film or digital.
Moderator: Ms. Murczek
Ping Pong Club
Moderator: Mr. Waddle
The Respect Life Club seeks to deepen and support a vision of life rooted in the sanctity and dignity of the human from womb to tomb. It fosters initiatives that seek the creation and development of "cultures of life." Events include March for Life in Washington D.C. and March for Life in Chicago.
Moderator: Mr. Ptacek
Ski Club
This year our student intramurals are encouraging Carmel gatherings at various regional Ski Hills. Students are invited to meet at the Ski Hill on specified group dates to enjoy outdoor, winter social fun while snowboarding or skiing.
Moderators: Mr. Pazely and Mr. Rank
Students gather to educate themselves and the Carmel community on social justice issues, to pray for these issues, and to participate in actions that bring about justice in the local, national and world community.
Moderator: Mr. Bernhardt
Spanish Club
This club provides students with the opportunity to learn more about a world language and its native culture by celebrating holidays in the Mexican tradition, including typical foods and activities. All students are welcome, whether or not they are enrolled in Spanish.
Moderators: Ms. Thrush
Spikeball Club
Moderator: Mr. Covek
Young Disciples Club
Moderator: Mr. Bernhardt
Clubs and Councils – Membership by Application and Selection
Ambassadors assist the Admissions Department in representing Carmel Catholic in recruitment and marketing events such as the 7th and 8th Grade Sports Night and Pizza Party, Open House, and grade school visits. Members are selected seniors, juniors, and sophomores. An Ambassador has a strong school spirit, is prepared to speak in front of student and parent groups, demonstrates excellent leadership skills, and is committed to the community that Carmel Catholic serves.
Moderator: Mr. Stith
The Professional ABCs has a very simple mission statement: Manufacture Luck. Students meet once a month before school to learn and explore topics such as first impressions, goal setting and recovery from failure, small talk and communications, resume and professional profile building, business etiquette and more. Student groups compete with a financial focus, presentations, and quizzes throughout the year and with partnership high schools as a culminating event. The end goal is to create a competitive advantage for participants in their professional careers.
Moderators: Mrs. Lindgren and Mr. Schultz
This organization promotes leadership skills and builds open communication between the administration, the faculty, and the student body. The Student Council also fosters school spirit by sponsoring dances, socials, and charitable events such as food drives and blood drives, and contributes to other charitable causes. Membership in the Student Council is open to all students who meet the established criteria set forth in the Student Council Constitution and the following: a candidate should be a character role model for the student body (discerned from school disciplinary records and teacher’s recommendations) and have at least a 78 average in each subject (verified by the registrar).
Moderator: Mr. Donner
Moderator: Mrs. Donner
Academic Teams
Academic Challenge
The Academic Challenge in Engineering and Science (formerly Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering/WYSE) team participates in a series of competitive exams covering various topics ranging from biology to English. Competition occurs in three stages: Regional, Sectional, and State. Advancement is dependent both on team and individual superior levels of academic excellence in their respective subjects.
Moderators: Ms. Huntemann and Mr. Zell
Mock Trial
The Mock Trial Team promotes effective communication skills by having students participate in the Illinois state high school mock trial competition sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA). Tryouts for the team occur during the fall semester. Students are expected to attend evening practice sessions. In the spring semester, the team will compete in regional mock trial competitions. The team finishes its season with the ISBA High School Mock Trial Competition at the University of Illinois/Springfield held annually in March.
Moderator: Mr. Waddle
Robotics Teams
Robotics at Carmel consists of two to three teams creating a robot to perform certain tasks put forth by a challenge. It is much like a board game where the robot is the playing piece. We need many types of people to make our award-winning teams succeed. Builders, coders, and marketers work together to create a working robot and perform outreach to local schools and other organizations.
Traditionally affiliated with FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge), we will participate in events as much as our social distancing guidelines allow. We express the FIRST philosophies of Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® through our Core Values:
- Discovery: We explore new skills and ideas.
- Innovation: We use creativity and persistence to solve problems.
- Impact: We apply what we learn to improve our world.
- Inclusion: We respect each other and embrace our differences.
- Teamwork: We are stronger when we work together.
- Fun: We enjoy and celebrate what we do!
Coaches: Mrs. Major and Mr. LoBue
Scholastic Bowl
Scholastic Bowl is a competitive team activity that sets many of our best students against other high schools in a game of knowledge and academic skills. Questions used in Scholastic Bowl come from all high school courses, as well as in the fields of sports and trivia. Tryouts are held at the beginning of the school year. Scholastic Bowl competes at the JV (freshman/sophomore) and Varsity (junior/senior) levels.
Moderator: Mr. Rafferty
Youth & Government
Youth & Government is open to all students interested in participating in a mock legislative process. The club is assigned a topic for research and has as its project the formulation of a piece of legislation. Club members compete in a mock legislative session at the state capital in Springfield, IL.
Moderators: Mr. Ptacek and Mr. Covek
Questions regarding clubs and activities can be directed to Ms. Laura Budris '90, Director of Student Activities, at [email protected].