Late last month, on an otherwise quiet Thursday at 2:30 pm, students gathered in the library, preparing for a meeting whose agenda was unknown to them. Head leaders from 35 of NASH’s clubs convened for the first time ever. Representatives from the National Honor Society, TigerThon, Shakespeare Club, Key Club, DECA, and everything in between sat intrigued as to what would happen once Senior Class President Jaime Martinez called the meeting to order. 

“It was quiet before the meeting started,” said Lucie Flagg, who attended as a representative from The Uproar.  “I had no idea what to expect.”

Martinez is, no doubt, working hard to fulfill his promises of bettering NASH’s environment and, primarily, unifying the student body. His latest creation delivers on those promises: The North Allegheny Council of Organizations, or NACO, for short.

NACO is a culmination of NASH’s organizations; essentially, it is one super-club.

“NACO’s goal is to promote inter-organizational collaboration, student body advocacy, the progress of each club’s goals, and by extension, the student body as a whole, as well as using collective student leadership power to benefit student interests,” Martinez said.

Simply put, NACO is a vehicle for communication among the various organizations that drive NASH.

From Baking Club and Bollywood Club to Student Council and Model UN, NASH offers a wide array of clubs to accommodate as many student interests as possible. Yet, as successful as the clubs are, they lack communication among themselves. When Martinez recognized this, the idea for NACO was born.

“I’ve seen a lack of communication between clubs,” he said. “Even though we are filled to the brim with networks of student organizations, we do not share our resources and help each other out as much as we should.”

If different clubs are better able to work together, Martinez hopes, many of their goals can be achieved faster and more thoroughly.

Sai Velaga, Model UN President, readily agrees.

“I am really excited to see so many clubs and organizations involved because, as a large school, we really need to improve communication across all our clubs,” Velaga said. “NACO does that.”

Martinez and the other NACO ambassadors deemed the first meeting a success.

“NACO is a great idea to coordinate extracurricular activities around the school, and our first meeting successfully laid the foundation for a meaningful discussion about improving club atmosphere,” said Project Water Logistics Director Sanjit Beriwal.

The meeting lasted approximately an hour and club leaders took advantage of every minute by filling the time with meaningful discussion.

“With productive dialogue about the needs and goals of each member club, and a few initiatives started to kickstart NACO’s activities, the meeting proved to me that student leadership is as driven as ever in their pursuit to represent their peers as genuinely as they can,” Martinez said.

Though NACO is just beginning, Martinez has high hopes for its future.

“I hope to see NACO bridge the gaps of communication between clubs, provide a platform for all clubs to voice their opinions on issues around the school, and promote an overall sense of unity,” he added.

NACO is formed for the future. It will, hopefully, be a legacy left by the classes of 2020-21. Unity blossomed throughout NASH last week, creating a more efficient and successful environment.

“It’s about time something like NACO came to NASH,” Sai Velaga said.