When Jacob Garcez sat down next to Jacob Brown in their eleventh grade U.S. History class, Brown didn’t think much of it- until Garcez asked him if that was a Dungeons and Dragons shirt he was wearing. The two students quickly became fast friends as they bonded over their shared names and love of board games, and it wasn’t long until they came up with the idea to start a Game Club here at Albany High.

“It was easier than I thought,” said Garcez. Brown disagreed. “It was a bunch of paperwork,” he moaned. “We had to write up declarations, our intents, and goals.” When asked by the people at the main office who their faculty advisor was going to be, the answer was a no-brainer: Matthew Pinchinat, the teacher of the history class they met in and a sharp-witted, exuberant addition to the faculty who previously worked on projects such as the school geography bee.  “It took him about two seconds to agree,” Brown recalled.

The first game club meeting, held shortly before the Christmas break of 2016, saw eight people sitting around a table and playing cards. “We mostly got recruits by word of mouth… until now,” Brown said. Since then, it has grown exponentially. “The sign in sheet is literally overflowing now,” Mr. Pinchinat added, pointing excitedly at his clipboard. If you were to walk into game club nowadays (it’s held on Fridays in the Innovation cafeteria right after school), you would see all three televisions used up for some kind of video games and at least four or five stations set up with people playing nerdy or laugh-provoking games such as Mao, Secret Hitler, Cards against Humanity, and Catan, amongst others. Noise can be a problem, but when it’s there it’s either laughter or accusations of fascism, so it’s all okay really.

Frequenters of the club had curious reactions when asked to describe it: “It’s the bee’s knees,” said one student.

“It’s the cat’s pajamas,” said a completely different kid.

“Totally tubular,” interjected a third.

“Too cool for school,” a fourth student concurred.

“Radical, dude,” the first student concluded, cementing the barrage of retro, ‘80s style complements that can only really be uttered by total geeks at this point in time.

These sentiments reflect the unique and fun-loving ambiance omnipresent among all the students there. Clearly the club is successful, even on a more serious note. “During the weekend, I never have time to hang out with my friends. Now, thanks to game club, I have the opportunity to associate with my comrades as well as meet new people,” said Mari Wolfgang, a junior who was in game club since its beginnings. “I think it’s really important, and a great end to the week,” Mr. Pinchinat added.

Game club certainly is a lot of fun, and I have to break third person here for a second to encourage you all to go, since it’s a bucket full of giggles. All of the members are deeply indebted to the two Jacobs and their admirable innovation, which is even more proof that great things are happening in Albany High.