OneVoice is a club dedicated for providing a safe space for those of the LGBTQ+ community and allies at Prep. OneVoice, like many other clubs, had to adjust to the return to being 100% on campus. Seemingly normal things from leadership elections to just meeting with each other had their dynamics changed with virtual learning. So, needless to say, reverting to the ways things once were was also was a major change. In September, OneVoice had its first meeting of the year and the anticipation and anxiety around its first in-person meeting in quite a while was high.

When asked about any problems OneVoice is facing this year, Joaquin Galindo-Navarro ’22 had this to say: “The biggest problem this year is that we have so many new members that we’re having trouble finding a place to host meetings.” And with future events already in the works, the next few months for OneVoice are already looking good.

“Obviously it would be an adjustment for any club to come back after a full year of virtual” Robin Shoemaker ’22 said, “Last year was really hard for leadership and club members, so, we did a lot of additional work to make sure we were ready to come back strong.”

And come back strong they did. The first meeting went off without a hitch and left OneVoice leadership with hope for the coming months.

“We saw really great turnout from everybody, including underclassmen, which really gave me hope” Shoemaker said. “I’m really excited by the turnout we’ve had for our meetings this year, and we’re trying to retain that turnout, not because we want to maintain numbers, but because we want to be able to provide a safe space for Prep students that is accessible as possible.”

The leadership also shared some of the upcoming plans for the year for club activities.

Shoemaker added that “in addition to regularly scheduled meetings, we are also working on a few special activities, such as a OneVoice movie night and meetings with the counselors.”

OneVoice held a meeting on October 5^th, which was the meeting where they celebrated the start of LGBTQ+ History Month. And though none of their meetings coincided with National Coming Out Day, OneVoice leadership made sure to take time to celebrate on their own, in their own ways.

When asked what he did to celebrate, Galindo-Navarro said “leading morning prayer was what I did to celebrate it, but personally that was something very special to me. I felt proud of my school and that that was something we could celebrate publicly as a community.”

Offering a final comment, Shoemaker said that “OneVoice is working hard with a great leadership team to plan informative meetings and opportunities for fun and community. We’re focused on making up for the lost time and giving every student the safe space that they deserve.”