As the school year begins, Leesville’s Special Needs Awareness Club (SNAC), is in full swing.

SNAC is a club where students and students in special needs programs are given an opportunity to socialize. On alternating weeks, during A and B lunch, members of the club gather in the Murphy Building.

On October 1, during A lunch, SNAC hosted their first official meeting. In this meeting, students participated in a “get to know you” activity. 

Carter Hepp, junior and third year SNAC member, said, “We met all the kids for the first time this year and we talked to them. We got to know them and got to know a bunch of their favorite things…SNAC club is fun and it’s exciting and everybody should go.”

Every special needs student was paired with at least one other club member. Together they worked through an activity guide that allowed the students to describe their favorite colors, tv shows, game, animals, and food. 

SNAC helps build connections between different groups of students in the Leesville community. It allows for people, who would never be in the same room, to participate in simple, fun activities together. 

Hepp said, “My sister invited me [to SNAC] freshman year, and I’ve been going ever since…

I enjoy talking to all of the kids and seeing their faces light up every time we walk in. SNAC club is important to get yourself out there and meet these people who don’t get to do as much as you do everyday and just to brighten other people’s day.”

Kaylen Blades, senior, said, “I think you just have to have a lot of patience with special needs kids. You can have normal conversations… we can treat them just as equally as everybody else.” 

For the rest of the school year, SNAC club will continue to host meetings on Wednesdays during A and B lunches. These meetings will continue to be a bridge of students in the Leesville community.