Starting this fall, students at Wareham High School and Middle School will be able to spread a little cheer, focus on women's issues, debate the best method of bringing peace to Syria, or just find others with their interests.

The Wareham School Committee made it possible when they approved four new school clubs, which will begin in September.

Random Acts of Kindness Club

The club was proposed by Wareham School Committee Student Representative Jaime Reed. "It’s a domino effect, can start with one person and can effect all students and staff," she said.

The club is open to all, and meant to spread positivity by performing surprise (and random, of course) acts of kindness.

"I love the idea, from what I know about the students of Wareham, i think it will be extremely well received and effective club," said committee member Geoff Swett.

The club was approved unanimously.

National Organization for Women (NOW) Club

Wareham High School student Madison Hough proposed the idea after attending a Women's March in Washington, D.C. "I wanted to bring it home with me," she said. "I think feminist organizations get a bad rep because people think only females can be involved and that is not the case. It is a community effort."

She explained that the philosophy of the club is to educate students and staff about women rights, standing up for the issues it supports and spreading awareness amongst the community.

Most of the committee was enthusiastic, but Swett had reservations. "Don’t take my comments the wrong way," he began. "I read that the group of people at the greatest risk is in fact young males. When I observe I see tremendous progress by young females. All the areas where achievement is recognized, it is routinely seven or eight out of ten are females. So when I see an organization meant to promote women, I’m concerned we’re separating out people’s right and people in general."

He admitted that he knew he would be outvoted, and was. With Swett as the only dissenter, the club was approved 4-1.

Model UN Club

Student Tyler Litchfield pitched a Model UN Club to the committee with great enthusiasm.

" It's a nationally-acclaimed student organization. The addition would diversify the club pool and make the school more competitive for other schools around it," he explained.

He also stated that the club would make Wareham High School more attractive to new students, plus add new option for students already there. "Model UN offers valuable education, enjoyability, real life debate skills, education about current affairs, learning to argue for positions you don’t agree with."

First topic would be “reducing tensions in Syria without violence”.

“I’m interested how you’ll evolve the UN and perhaps do it even better than they’re doing it now. I totally approve of it," said Swett.

School Committee Chair Judith Capporiccio added, "Maybe you can come up with ideas to make the world even better.”

The club was approved unanimously.

Gay/Straight Alliance Pilot Club

Eighth-grader Andrew Sandoval explained to the committee that he was hoping to provide a safe space for any students who might feel left out in school or have different interests than the majority of the student body.

Swett was not enthusiastic, but only because he felt the club indicated that students did not feel safe in school already.

"Every parent and school committee member wants to believe a school is a safe place, we would do anything to make school a safe place," he said. "When I see students wanting to create a safe space, it drives me crazy. To me, what it is saying is that the school in general isn’t safe enough."

"We don’t mean it like that, we just intended this for people who feel as if their interests or emotions aren't well-received," Sandoval said.

"I hear you, I believe you," Swett said. "It still disturbs me that we haven’t met your needs well enough. I’m sitting here feeling guilty that you feel the need to create a safer space. It's not a reflection on you."

Dr. Steedman took a different tack. "The way I view it, I think we’ve created an environment where students are empowered to create a space for collaboration. If they didn’t feel empowered, they never would have been able to do this."

The club was unanimously approved.