Student Groups & Clubs

Student Leaders: Estelle Ballet & Lana English
Faculty Sponsors: Kate Ward & Jessica Wasilewski
Mission: To educate the Burroughs community about anatomy by participating in (or watching) hands on dissections of various specimen.

Student Leader: Devon Dehghani
Faculty Sponsor: Wayne Winters
Mission: Committed to involving and motivating students in the field of aviation, club meetings will focus on the topics surrounding aviation including building model aircraft, exploring airfields, experiencing simulations and learning from pilots.

Student Leaders: Hana Banga & Megan Liu
Faculty Sponsor: Deena Goran
Mission: To allow students to learn about potential careers and opportunities to further their understanding of different areas of the biomedical sciences through speakers.

Student Leaders: Hanna Banga, Arya Bhattacharya, Luke Tu & Jana Smith
Faculty Sponsor: Jim Holmes
Mission: To educate Burroughs students on business ideas and topics

Student Leaders: Graham Engler & Sydney Starks
Faculty Sponsors: Mike Gesiakowski
Mission: To provide enrichment for students beyond what the can experience within the classroom and expose the greater JBS community to the ceramic arts. This club will provide students with the opportunity for further artistic achievement through planned club events such as Empty Bowls with the Montgomery Plan, field trips to museums and local ceramic artists' studios and to build camaraderie with fellow student artists.

Student Leaders: Maz Choha, Sam Lu & Jack Parsons
Faculty Sponsor: Mark Smith
Mission: To teach and foster the love of chess and to compete in the Gateway Chess League.

Student Leaders: 
Faculty Sponsor: Sorsha Maness
Mission: To share the Classics with the wider school community and provide students of the Classics with enriching activities.

Student Leader: 
Faculty Sponsor: 
Mission: 

Student Leaders: Connor Kaplan & Ryan Hardwick
Faculty Sponsor: Jim Holmes
Mission: To discover and discuss different cryptocurrencies that are of significant value to the economy, in addition to learning about NFTs.

Student Leaders: Jerry Chang, Aayan Goyal & Courtney Wu
Faculty Sponsor: Jerry Estes
Mission: To provide opportunities for students to become more comfortable performing music and to incorporate cultural diversity and various genres into these performances.

Student Leaders: Catherine Roth, Graham Sagel & John Zarek
Faculty Sponsor: Mark Smith
Mission: To educate the JBS community on current events and to provide a space for students to discuss the issues of the day.

Student Leaders: Joe Baur, Mawdo Diallo & Luke Tu
Faculty Sponsor: Jud Dieffenbach
Mission: To empower the student body with lifelong skills of public speaking and respectful discourse via debate tournaments and discussion panels.

Student Leaders: Sarah Ding, Savannah Gafford, Abigail Gardner & Lana English
Faculty Sponsor: Deena Goran & Tracy Walther
Mission: The purpose of this club is to educate the student body about the environment and climate change, cultivate a love for our planet, and provide opportunities for students to take political action to prevent climate change.

Student Leaders: Liv Acree, Sylvia Barnes, Adrienne Sayad & Lilly Wang
Faculty Sponsor: Jim Lowe
Mission: To watch movies of cultural, historical or social importance and discuss their impact and style. We also hope to explore film-related topics in pop culture and bring students together through these activities.

Student Leaders: Charlie Desai, Story Kummer & Caitlyn O'Shea
Faculty Sponsor: Martha McMahon
Mission: To provide a welcoming environment for people of all genders to learn how to code and feel comfortable making mistakes.

Student Leader: 
Faculty Sponsor: Jason Taff
Mission: To engage the student body through math related activities and have a good time.

Student Leaders: 
Faculty Sponsor: Aaron Dowdall & Carrie Dodson-Ching
Mission: To ensure an understanding of Model United Nations (MUN) among 7th and 8th graders. Members will try to participate in outreach with other MUN programs around the world, and learn about the program as whole, through debates, including regarding the Sustainable Development Goals, community service opportunities, and speaker sessions among other activities and projects.

Student Leader: Ayomide Ajakaiye
Faculty Sponsors: Shannon Koropchak & Andrew Newman
Mission:

Student Leaders: Evan Dierberg, JRob Goffstein, Billy Sinton & Patrick Whiteford
Faculty Sponsor: Mark Smith
Mission: To spread an interest in philosophy and provide a place for interested students to discuss and learn about philosophy.

Student Leaders: Sarah Ding & Lily Yanagimoto
Faculty Sponsor: Joy Gebhardt
Mission: To raise student interest in and appreciation of, the reading,  writing and discussion of poetic work. The club will accomplish this by distributing written work to its members, by meeting to discuss poems, poetic forms and creative movements in poetry, by engaging in free-writing time in response to prompts/other relevant information and by sharing student work with peers.

Student Leaders: Daniel Green, Dalton Harrold & Adithya Suresh
Faculty Sponsor: Alan Chung
Mission: To participate in the FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics competition. FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. It provides unique opportunities for students to apply science, technology, engineering and math-related concepts and skills by competing in the FTC robotics program.

Student Leaders: Kate Grady & Isaiah Knispel
Faculty Sponsors: Dan Barton, Eric Knispel & Kerri Rowe
Mission: To engage students in hands-on engineering and to increase environmental awareness.

Student Leaders: Olivia Ballet & Nadia Steinle
Faculty Sponsor: Andy Newman
Mission: Our club is dedicated to the communal protection and preservation of our world's oceans, beaches and marine life, locally and from a distance.

Student Leaders:
Faculty Sponsors: Scott Heinzel, Marina Smallwood & Tracy Walther
Mission: Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events. Each year, a portion of the events are rotated to reflect the ever-changing nature of genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering and technology. By combining events from all disciplines, Science Olympiad encourages a wide cross-section of students to get involved. Emphasis is placed on active, hands-on group participation.

Student Leaders: Simran LaBore, Jana Smith & Luke Tu
Faculty Sponsor: Julie Shimabukuro
Mission: To increase awareness of Asian culture, country by country, through the study of the history, language, art, religion, music and food, and to help students gain a better understanding of how race and ethnicity inform identity.

Faculty Sponsor: Jennifer Kinney
Mission: To instill the joy of living through the advancement of community. We believe that it is an integral part of education during these formative years to cultivate character and compassion by productive interaction. Welcoming all, regardless of background or opinion, Diversity E.T.C. strives to serve as a clearinghouse for ongoing, open discourse, with the goal of encouraging affinities within the Burroughs community. Functioning to enhance learning through formal meetings, informal conversations and planned activities, we are always striving to promote awareness and enrich consciousness.

Student Leaders: Olivia Ballet & Clarke Campbell
Faculty Sponsor: Babeth Dyer
Mission: To educate and engage the John Burroughs community on the breadth and beauty of Francophile history, culture and politics.

Student Leaders: 
Faculty Sponsor: Ashley Edgerton 
Mission: To promote gender equity, spread awareness and work to create solutions to prevalent gender issues in our community through public outreach and events within Burroughs.

Student Leaders: 
Faculty Sponsor: Maria Cohen
Mission: To promote the study and appreciation of the culture of Spanish speaking countries through fun activities.

Student Leader: Macy Goldfarb, Sabrina Small, Evelyn Ziaee 
Faculty Sponsor: Tim Baker
Mission: To inform the student body about Jewish culture and to create a safe and welcoming community for those who want to learn more.

Student Leaders: 
Faculty Sponsor: Sarah Hasselman
Mission: To provide a place where people of all different backgrounds and identities can come together to have a safe and constructive conversation.

Student Leader: Audrey Gray& Celia Ross
Faculty Sponsor: Jamie Wagner
Mission: The Political Action Club focuses on developing the agency of students to affect positive change through the political process. Students will learn how to exercise advocacy actions such as writing politicians and decision-makers, calling the offices of these leaders, and lobbying these leaders directly in-person. The Political Action Club is open to individuals across the political spectrum to learn these skills and will help train groups and other clubs interested in political advocacy.

Student Leaders: Janae Harris, Gabrielle Moore & Madison Moore
Faculty Sponsor: Andranique Ellis
Mission: To support discussion of issues relevant to the intersection of race and socioeconomic status, engaging in "revealing" activities that highlight inherent privilege, or lack thereof, by virtue of one's race of socioeconomic status and by doing this work to help make and anti-racist culture in the Burroughs community.

Student Leaders: Charlotte Kay, Molly Magarian, Maddy Pass, Brice Shearburn, Iris Sommer & Mia Wood
Faculty Sponsors: Ellie DesPrez & Katarina Fernandez
Mission: To represent the LGBTQIA+ community in an effort to increase awareness of and safety for Gender and Sexuality Minorities (GSM) in the Burroughs community. This is done by spreading information about various gender and sexuality identities through meetings, assembly speeches and events, as well as promoting response to any issues which may infringe upon the rights of those who identify as a GSM.

Editors-in-Chief: Ayomide Ajakaiye, Isabel Cepeda, Evan Dierberg, Anya Liu & Aarnavi Paduru
Faculty Sponsor: Kamau Walker
Mission: To create a publication in the 'zine style, focusing on creating meaningful and respectful conversation among members of the JBS community on the topics of diversity and inclusion. It is a publication that is submission-based and includes all types of artistic expression.

Student Leaders: Sahana Madala & Uday Vissa
Faculty Sponsor: Carrie Dodson-Ching
Mission: To promote religious literacy on campus and challenge assumptions on religion through talking about experiences and engagement with other clubs.

Student Leaders: Mira Nayak, Katherine Pruett, Nadia Steinle &  Avery Stokes
Faculty Sponsor: Sally Kilbride
Mission: To aid and ease the navigation of kids under twenty-one through the world of middle/high school and the stress and/or mental obstacles that may be encountered along the way.

Student Leader: 
Faculty Sponsor: Davey Desloge
Mission: Our mission is to give students with a passion in sports the opportunity to write about the sports that they enjoy, as well as inform the JBS community about its sports teams, upcoming games, etc.

Student Leaders: 
Faculty Sponsor: Holly Lorencz
Mission: CRISIS seeks to educate the JBS community about global issues and affairs significantly focusing on a specific issue.

Student Leaders: Evan Dierberg, Daniel Greene, Barghav Vissa & Connor Woods
Faculty Sponsor: Bob Henningsen
Mission: To promote cultural diversity through the palate. The publication achieves this by providing a space for students and members of the John Burroughs community to free write opinionated pieces, tier lists and reviews on restaurants or foods.

Editor-in-Chief: Grace Turza
Faculty Sponsors: Erica Moore
Mission: To have students work together from the beginning of the school year through March to produce a traditional yearbook called the Governor. Under the direction of the senior editors-in-chief, students are responsible for page layout, design, writing, editing and photography. Students work together during open meeting times and individually to complete these tasks.

Editor-in-Chief: Celia Ross
Faculty Sponsor: Aaron Dowdall
Mission: To humorously engage the student body.

Editors-in-Chief: Sylvia Barnes, Madeline Buchowski & Lily Yanagimoto
Faculty Sponsor: Ellie DesPrez & Griffin Kennard
Mission: To promote visual arts and creative writing while collecting pieces for the annual publication of the student literary magazine, The Review. We host regular meetings to review nominations, which are open to all grade levels. In addition, The Review sponsors the annual Review Preview, a music and spoken word festival.

Editors-in-Chief: Ari Duel, Elijah Riker & Nura Sharp
Faculty Sponsors: Jill Donovan & Shannon Koropchak
Mission: To nurture and help showcase the creative writing and art of middle school students. Participants support each other as writers in after-school creative workshop gatherings, and help to edit and lay out the literary and art magazine Works in Progress: An Anthology of Middle School Creative Work at Burroughs.

Editors-in-Chief: Allie Dornfeld, Lana English, Eesha Jasti & Brice Shearburn
Faculty Sponsor: Sarah Hasselman & Megan Zmudczynski
Mission: To be a beacon of independent journalism and critical thinking at Burroughs. Our members will ask questions to spark candid, respectful conversations about topics both within our school and the global community and report about them accurately. We will not stop in our pursuit of objectivity and will be the microphone that amplifies student voices.

Student Leaders: 
Faculty Sponsor: Imani Harris
Mission: To welcome students from any grade who have an interest in being a leader and friend to students who attend Aim High. Our mission is to provide assistance and leadership through monthly planned activities.

Student Leaders: Caroline Clarke, Anya Liu, Sofie Oztok & Adam Sutter
Faculty Sponsor: Donya Allison
Mission: To spread awareness of animal welfare issues occurring locally and around the globe. The club is education and service based.

Student Leaders: Elizabeth Clarke, Grant Dahl & Abigail Gardner
Faculty Sponsor: Mark Nicholas
Mission: Offers the opportunity for JBS students to engage in inclusive activities that promote friendship, acceptance and interaction.

Student Leaders: Gabrielle Moore & Madison Moore
Faculty Sponsor: Laura Crowley
Mission: To provide assistance to people living with ALS (or other degenerative diseases) throughout the St. Louis area. While in the homes of patients, students perform household chores that are difficult for people living with these conditions. The club also raises money to help fund ALS research and participates in community-wide events that raise ALS awareness.

Student Leader: 
Faculty Sponsor: Peter Tasker
Mission: To support basic human needs, projects and organizations around the world through fund raisers and raising general awareness.

Student Leaders: 
Faculty Sponsor: Alex Wu
Mission: We will be educating the Burroughs community about what it's like to have cancer and to go through the several different treatment processes. We will fundraise for pediatric cancer research.

Student Leaders: Clarke Campbell, Isabel Cepeda,  Simran LaBore, Sahana Madala & Sameera Rao
Faculty Sponsor: Laura Fogarty
Mission: To enable Burroughs students to help people in other countries by providing micro-loans to assist individuals around the world in growing small businesses. We focus on supporting single women building their independence. Burroughs students will raise money, then choose the people, causes and businesses they want to support.

Student Leaders: Each activity is chaired by a different set of student leaders
Faculty Sponsors: Glenn Dutch, Jim Holmes, Sally Kilbride, Emily Patterson & Megan Rathert
Mission: To promote social consciousness, cultivate relationships, foster empathy, and inspire lives of civic responsibility by compassionately engaging with the greater St. Louis community through volunteering and service

Student Leader: Will Chapman, Tucker Desloge & Jack Enger
Faculty Sponsor: Pete McKeown
Mission: To raise awareness for important issues through sports.

Student Leaders: Aziz Carvalho, Patrick McGinley, Nikhil Morgan & Uday Vissa
Faculty Sponsor: Jennifer Kinney
Mission: Seeks to mobilize the JBS community towards solving food insecurity in the greater Saint Louis area, especially through means of distribution and warehouse packaging.

Student Leaders: Eesha Jasti, Katie Kantrovitz, Brice Shearburn & Nadia Steinle
Faculty Sponsor: Aaron Dowdall
Mission:  Aids refugees in the St. Louis region through volunteering, providing assistance and fundraising activities. Our organization gives students the chance to engage with refugees in our community with the hopes of helping them rebuild their lives.

Student Leaders: Finley Desai & Collin Logsdon
Faculty Sponsor: Tim Baker
Mission: To bring together the Burroughs community while building new and strengthening existing relationships between students, faculty, alumni and all of those in between by holding cars and coffee type events.

Student Leader: 
Faculty Sponsors: Catie Haveman & Michael Havemen
Mission: Introduces the sport of rock climbing, a mentally and physically challenging activity, and brings students together and encourages collaboration in meetings and competitions.

Student Leaders: Frankie Rhodes & Camille Smith
Faculty Sponsor: Jennifer Kinney
Mission: To spread interest in the art of fashion and style and provide a place for interested students to discuss fashion trends and learn more about them in everyday life.
 

Student Leaders: Zach Cameron, JRob Goffstein, Jane Leavitt, Lauren Inazu, Jack Parsons, Gabe Porter, Davin Rich & Rafe Rosario-Blake & Patrick Whiteford
Faculty Sponsor: Paul Salomon
Mission: To serve as a welcoming environment to promote awareness and increase participation in board games and a variety of other different media that are less popular. We strive to be inclusive in our activities, and, above all else, to simply have fun.

Student Leaders: Clay Edelson & Dalton Harold
Faculty Sponsor: Paul Salomon
Mission: To provide the student body a form of extracurricular entertainment, to compete and practice together, and be part of a team, as well as represent John Burroughs School in the esports community.

Student Leader: Hudson Freiman
Faculty Sponsor: Wayne Winters
Mission: Especially for those who enjoy engineering, designing and physics, this club provides space for members to design a course or track, letting their creativity shine in new inventive ways.

Student Leaders: Nyla Pruitt & Ryder Scully
Faculty Sponsor: Tim Baker
Mission: To make this form of expression and appreciation of this art easily accessible to the student body.

Student Leaders: 
Faculty Sponsor: Jerry Estes
Mission: To have fun while supporting the community.

Student Leaders: Jack O'Brien & Ken Zheng
Faculty Sponsor: Michael Haveman
Mission: To provide a place where the student body can go to learn and have fun while doing puzzles.

Student Leader: 
Faculty Sponsor: Jud Dieffenbach
Mission: To create unity throughout the student body, increase school spirit and expand student involvement within school sporting events.

Student Body President: Jah'de Alexander
Faculty Sponsors: Kate Grantham & Jeanne Gillanders
Mission: To direct student organizations and help establish an understanding between students and other branches of the JBS community. It creates an atmosphere and a forum for the open discussion of school problems. Congress helps define and implement the JBS philosophy and is the main student vehicle to initiate change within the school. Past activities include the Dance Marathon, Movie Night, Commons Café and Field Day. All meetings are open to the student body. The Student Congress is comprised of the president of each class, Chief Justice of the Student Court, Student Body President and an appointed Chief of Staff.

Chief Justice: Kelenna Eke-Okoro
Faculty Sponsors: Rene Iannotti & Pete McKeown 
Mission: To hear cases arising from alleged violations of school rules. The Student Court is composed of ten students, including a chief justice, two seniors, one junior, one sophomore, one freshman, one eighth grader, two bailiffs and the court secretary. The Student Court offers the community unique opportunities for learning and developing fostered responsibility. Throughout the school year, the court meets weekly to discuss and process more than 500 cases and demonstrate some sophisticated judgments and creative punishments.

Student Leaders:  Howard Jiang & Connor Woods
Faculty Sponsor: Matt Tomlinson
Mission: Bringing the joy of the sport to those who cannot participate in the activity during the regular season, this club organizes volleyball games to promote community, build friendships and have fun.