The Gay Straight Alliance is a club that was formed at the beginning of the2013-2014 school year by gay and straight students who wanted a place at North where they could be free from judgment and conflict. Those students came together and asked Mrs. Younghouse, a tenth and eleventh grade English teacher, to sponsor the club. When asked about how she felt, Younghouse said, “I was surprised when they asked me to sponsor the club, but I wasn’t intimidated. I knew this club could be beneficial for the student body.”

There are over 30 members of GSA currently, but new members are always welcome. When the club was first formed, the members started off by electing officers to run the meetings. Those officers now run current meetings by leading discussions about things that have personally happened recently, or national events that are relevant to the club’s cause.

The club is always looking for ways to help the community. Recently, GSA partnered up with Aѐropostal and the charity organization DoSomething in order to collect jeans for teenagers in need for their “Teens for Jeans” campaign. The turnout was unbelievable with over 100 pairs of jeans raised for the cause. GSA also is looking to work with similar clubs at other Forsyth County Schools in hopes to do a collaborative community service project.

Though the formation of the club caused some controversy throughout the school, Younghouse has received a tremendous amount of support from her fellow staff members and the principle. Ms.  Tillery, a fellow member of the English Department, is a major supporter of this club. “I admire Mrs. Younghouse for taking it on, and I also admire Dr. Hebert. I think it reflects how we’re changing as a community. We need a safe place in this building for children to go and be able to talk about what it’s like to be gay. I love the fact that there are straight people in the club supporting them, too,” Tillery said. Younghouse said that she was amazed with all the support that she’s gotten from the staff and students, even if there is some whispering from a few unhappy students.

The Gay Straight Alliance is having its next meeting at the end of the month, but look out for flyers posted around school or keep up with the announcements to see when meetings will be held. They would love to have many new members, so stop by room 221 after school on March 24^th to join in and help students here at North feel more accepted and for opportunities to help the community with service projects.