By Shafia Ahmed Virk – Staff Reporter 

The new Jonathan Law Courage Club is a group working to spread awareness of abuse commonly found in youth relationships and sharing warning signs in relationships that could potentially lead to violence.

Courage Club was founded by junior Lily Baird and focuses primarily on promoting healthy teen dating relationships. Baird was inspired by a friend’s recent experience with teen dating violence and wanted to bring attention to this issue. 

“I feel very excited that I get the opportunity to run a Teens For Courage Club here at Law,” Baird said. “We are actually a charter member of the Jamie Kimble Foundation for Courage and I’m looking forward to spreading their message here in the Jonathan Law community.”

After only two meetings, just over 20 members have joined. The club’s first meeting was on October 20. 

The club advisor is Mrs. Evans, the Vice President is junior Quinn Willett, the Secretary is junior Gina Lombardi, the Treasurer is junior Katherine Cepetelli, the Social Media Manager is junior Alexa Rosati, and the Event Coordinator is junior Hannah Bulkley. 

“I enjoy getting to know Jonathan Law students outside of the classroom, so I’m looking forward to getting to know this crew a bit better,” Evans said.

Courage Club meets in Room 197 on E days during common time. Their last meeting was a week ago and they learned about Jamie Kimble and the story behind the club. Kimble was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend in Tampa in 2012.  

“I feel empowered about Courage Club and its purpose,” Lombardi said. “I think it is a very important cause and needs to be addressed with women and men who are in relationships or not.”

The club also discussed where students can seek help and who students can talk to if someone is going through a situation related to this. Their overall goal is to ensure relationship safety as a whole. 

“I really like this club because it is a chance to prevent dating violence before it even happens,” Willett said. “It gives teens a chance to speak up when they might not know how.”

Baird and the other Courage Club members are working on a calendar of events for the year, including fundraising efforts and a Teens for Courage 5K race. Members hope that Courage Club will be a safe place for all students to come talk, learn, and devise ways to combat teen violence.

“I feel that Courage Club is a great club to be part of because it’s a good group of people with important values,” Cepetelli said. “I love that anyone is welcome to join, and everyone has the opportunity to feel like they’re part of something big.”