Rotary International is boosting service opportunities through its branch within the school, Interact Club. Interact Club president and senior Alexandra Bermea is leading the club through a spring book drive. 

With posters and flyers lining the halls and the hard work of the club’s members, Interact Club is making significant strides for Rotary International’s 10,000 Books Book drive. 

“[The] idea started with Rotary Club,” Bermea said. “It was brought to me that, ‘Oh, hey, we’re doing this cruise in April and during that cruise, we will be dropping off books in Honduras, and Mexico. And so from there I thought it would be a good idea to bring that also to the students since we are constantly surrounded by books. And then since several [seniors] probably are moving out of the house, you know, they’re getting rid of their old things. So we thought it would be a good fit for the school.”

The club is collecting used children’s and young adult books that are both in Spanish and English as the books are going to kids in Roatan, Honduras and Cozumel, Mexico.

“Everyone can donate books,” Bermea said. “Our sponsor actually let her [Plano] community know […] So she let her friends know. Students and family members, they’re free to donate books. Everybody can donate books if they want to.”

Book donations should be dropped off at Brittany Schrameyer’s room, F116, and with the drive ending on March 17, the Friday after spring break, Interact Club is hoping to continue collecting many books past their current (as of Feb. 8) count of 204 books.

“Once the drive is over, we’re going to do an official count,” Bermea said. “So we’re going to take members and take the members and how they can spread the word and have other people, you know, be more involved in the account.”

Though the club was only created this year, it has hosted other service events during its  meetings. Interact club also partnered with the Mindfulness Club during Eagle Give Day in the fall. 

“Last Eagle Give Day, we did the posters for the elementary and middle schools,” Interact Club member and senior Emylee Arnold said. That was awesome to try and kind of incorporate the service aspect of Interact Club and then the mindfulness part of being present in the moment and helping these children kind of see their potential. So that was awesome and super, super productive. We had close to 200 posters made, which was incredible and they were beautiful. And so those got shipped off to the schools. And then for Interact Club on one of our just regular club days, we [made] cards to nursing homes. It’s always nice to try and reach out to the community.”

The club also worked on another donation drive during the winter and supported staff and faculty through various activities.

“In the Christmas time, we did a ‘Barbie-Like-Me’ drop drive. And so that’s where we were collecting Barbies of POC skin colors,” Bermea said. “Then we also did gifts for the secretaries of all the House offices. So we did a little like holiday send-offs before we left for break.”

Bermea is looking into more service projects the club can participate in after the book drive, hoping to work on serving the community within Allen.

“In the springtime [we are] planning on doing some wildflowers and native trees [at] the waterpark behind the school,” Bermea said. “We’re working to be involved with the Presbyterian Hospital. So we’re going to try to put together some buddy bags for the kids in the hospital wing and see what sort of necessities they need, and also some wants that they might have.”

All club members are allowed to contribute to the projects Interact Club hosts by attending the meetings.

“During the meetings, we kind of all talk about what we think we can do to help the school, to help Allen, the community, and how we can implement those ideas,” senior Interact Club member Madison Preston said. “So all of us really, in the club, have a big part in helping out.”

As Interact Club works towards increasing its book total, current members urge others to join the club and help with their service projects such as the book drive and upcoming events they hope to execute.

“It’s a really good community that we have, and none of it is very stressful, which is what I love,” Arnold said. “You don’t want [to] do an afterschool club [and] to be freaked out 24/7, it’d just be like another class.”

Bermea said they think the club’s success in the book drive spurs hope for the future and would like more students to join and create a difference in their community.

“Interact club would love to participate in other book drives especially considering the many donations we have received from those in and outside of the club,” Bermea said. “I would like to see Interact club grow into a more well-known club like Key Club and NHS.”