Astronomy club selected a new club board for the 2016-2017 school year.

The new board is composed of all rising seniors. Kristi Stari, rising president, as well as Jake Kuznik, VP of Social Media, and John Alvarez, VP of Activities, have been involved with the club for three years. Both Bella Gugino, Treasurer, and Rae Larrinaga, VP of Membership, have been members for the past two years.

For some of the new board, the community was what drew them to the club. “Two years ago the captain for diving was the president, and he made me want to join,” Gugino said.

“My sister was president and she brought me to a lot of the meetings,” Kuznik said.

For Larrinaga, it was both the community and the focus of the club. “I love space, and I love the atmosphere of the club,” Larrinaga said. “I’d like to study it in college — and one day be up in the stars.”

Alvarez, another longtime space enthusiast, grew up watching Carl Sagan’s, “Cosmos.”

“I’ve always been fascinated with our universe, and I plan on becoming an astronomer after college. Astronomy Club seemed like a good first step,” Alvarez said.

As for the club’s future, Stari said, “Join not for the shirts, but because the meetings are actually pretty cool.”

Kuznik’s aims are targeted towards bringing “more kids to the meetings.” Similarly, Gugino said, “I plan to make more people aware of astronomy and just get more people involved.”

Alvarez says, “I hope that we can bring in more scientifically minded students into the mix so we can have a greater variety of conversation and activities about astronomical topics.”

Finally, Larrinaga said “I would love to start having themes for meetings and making them a bit more educational! And more games, maybe. It’s awesome, and so fun. Everyone is super friendly so come to the meetings!”