The“GSTA” which stands for “Gay Straight Transgender Alliance” has returned for the first time to PIHS since it was briefly introduced in the 2011-2012 school year. The GSTA is an after school club, and is a place where students can go to talk about the issues they go through every day. This is what you’d call a “Safe Space” where students can feel safe just being themselves.

Mrs. Whitten-Smith is kind enough to let the members of the GSTA have their meetings in her room after school. She says, “The GSTA is a safe place to talk about your issues, without a fear of judgment from anybody.” In terms of the club’s effectiveness and impact, Whitten-Smith says, “We’ve never really done anything because it seems like it’s always been a building year. We’ve never really been able to be the presence I think our students need to have in this school.”

The GSTA is actually a student lead group, meaning planning and events need to be initiated by student members, with the adviser’s support. Whitten-Smith said that she likes to, “Hang back and let the students decide what they want to do, and let them come up with their own ideas on how to make people more aware of what we do.”

This is the second time this club has been started at PIHS. It was started in 2011 by then senior Tyler Maynard. This year, Lauren Johnson ‘18 decided to start the club up again. Johnson said, “We want to educate the PIHS community in hopes of fostering a more accepting school culture, and I think we’re getting really close to achieving that.”

“There’s no limit to the number of “clubs” we can have, but to me I’d just like to see sustainability; meaning that all clubs need to show that they are making an effort to meet,” Principal Ben Greenlaw said.

For more information on when the next GSTA meeting is, email Lauren Johnson: [email protected]