Clubs, Activities, & Affinity Groups

Our a cappella groups are called "Tiger Lily" (soprano and alto) and "The Cogs" (tenor and bass). These groups meet throughout the year to sing as a group, performing at various events at Suffield. This is an extracurricular program that meets outside of class, when feasible. Sometimes these groups combine to create a coed a cappella group called "Suffield Singers."

This committee of students, alumni, and faculty research, discuss, and select the annual Alumni Leadership Award Recipients.

The American Sign Language club is new to Suffield Academy. This club was originally created as a senior leadership position but it became so much more. With COVID and masks, communicating can be hard, especially for the deaf community that relies on reading lips since most people don't know how to sign. Suffield Academy prides itself on being an open and inclusive community and bringing ASL to Suffield allows for the student body to be able to expand its horizons. Being able to sign is a great life skill to have. Anywhere you go, this skill can be used, even if you just know the basics. 

Students produce the school newspaper, The Bell, and are involved in planning issues, writing articles, taking photos, and producing art for the paper. Senior leaders (and several juniors) supervise each department and are responsible for overall production.

The business club features guest (remote) speakers who are young and can share their brief career experience with members, often opining on internships, majors, and formative early career moves. The business club has one or two guest speakers per term in an interactive format.

The chemistry club seeks to help students enjoy chemistry. We often attend online talks or participate in other events as a high school chapter of the American Chemical Society. Events through the year are entwined with the high school chapter program, as well as run by students. We seek to strike an even balance of fun and academic time in the club.

This club is open to anyone interested in learning about the game of chess. It's a place for students of all ability levels to participate and learn about strategies of chess from beginning to advanced levels. The team competes against each other and meets weekly.

This is a non-denominational faith based group. Students will find a supportive environment to encourage each other and discuss different struggles and triumphs they are facing. Bible verses and devotionals are incorporated, as well as service projects if time permits. 

Community Outreach takes place as a winter after school activity, the goal of which is to allow students opportunities to do service within the Suffield Academy community and beyond. The group typically meets several times per week. Students have volunteered at Enfield Loaves and Fishes, planned activities for younger children at Kent Memorial Library, interacted with faculty children at the Tiger Den, and had various opportunities to work with students at the local Intermediate School.  Other partnerships have included working with the Suffield Senior Center and Suffield By the River. Students who participate in Community Outreach have the opportunity to work with a diverse group of community members and their creativity shines while planning various events.

The cooking club will have friendly cooking competitions and enjoy the food we cook together. We will have 2-3 events per term, with a meeting before each event. 

The ultimate goal of debate team is to compete in tournaments, but the team will start casually, having members pick topics they're interested in debating amongst themselves. At times, they will speak in support of the opposite side of their true opinion, which will help members listen to multiple opinions and communicate through interaction. They are hoping to meet weekly, and to speak on and be updated about recent issues.

DECA Club welcomes students who are interested in areas of business and entrepreneurship, as we engage in challenges and competitive events offered by DECA, a nonprofit student organization in North America that prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. This club largely focuses on participating in DECA programs and representing Suffield at these events. For anyone hoping to study business or economics in college, participating in DECA challenges will help you gain experience in practical applications and hands-on business.

The club was founded by, and for, people who are passionate about and invested in fashion. Participants will host photoshoots and work in a multitude of mediums, ranging from photography to abstract makeup and more, learning about creative design layouts and editing pictures for the creation of a magazine. Each member's inspirations and work will be highlighted in this collaborative effort. 

The goal of EFFECT is to educate and inform the student body about pressing climate issues, while also inspiring change toward sustainability in our community. It encompasses any change students may wish to pursue around sustainability on campus and in the local area (effect change, make a change, etc.). We hope to run several events highlighting different environmental issues, along with educating the community on choices they can make to improve their impact on the local and global environment. 

This group meets to work on fiber arts activities, like knitting, crocheting, weaving, making friendship bracelets, and sewing. You can be a beginner or have experience in these activities, and the group is open to students and also faculty children when they meet on weekends. It is an opportunity to destress and use a creative part of your brain.

Members of the film club are assigned to watch one movie each week (several weeks in a row may have a theme, such as being directed by the same person). The following week, everyone will meet to discuss thoughts, observations, and overall opinions on the movie (accompanied with complimentary snacks).

The gender and sexuality alliance at Suffield seeks to make Suffield Academy a welcoming community for people of all gender expressions and sexual identities. The GSA meets weekly to talk about LGBTQIA issues, as well as plan events. The GSA hosts many events throughout the year including movies, dances, a day of silence, and our annual ally week. The GSA seeks to make the world a kinder place through education and outreach.

This student-led group provides a space for girls who are passionate about math and science to come together with other like-minded female students. In past years, the group has done anything from participating in coding competitions to getting together to work on math and science homework. This year's goals include building telescopes and looking into competing in more math and science competitions. 

Girl Up is a movement to advance girls’ skills, rights, and opportunities to be leaders. Our core belief is that when girls rise, we all rise. Girl Up at Suffield Academy seeks to create a more understanding environment for our female students. We hope to raise awareness about some of the inequities between male and female students and improve the overall experience for the girls of Suffield. 

The Guitar Show is a club that meets throughout the year in the studio, working towards two concerts during the year. These students bring their instrumental and vocal skills together to play cover music to create a rock style concert on the Suffield stage. This group meets 1-2 times per week with shows in January and May.

Helping Hands is Suffield's main community service club. It is completely student-run and focuses on local community service opportunities. They are planning activities this year that will not only help the school community but the greater Suffield and Hartford county communities as well. Last year, one of the biggest projects they did was write to pen pals at Suffield Middle School. This year, they plan on having food/clothing drives, a Halloween community activity, etc. 

The investment club works with about $10,000 in real funds each year. The club’s goal is to learn more about investing basics from the joint efforts of members’ research, and to meet regularly to decide on stocks and funds to invest in, hoping for positive returns during the school year.

Suffield Academy’s Jewish Organization of Suffield (JOS) aims to provide a community for Jewish students, faculty, and staff on campus. In addition, the JOS is an all-campus inclusive group that promotes awareness regarding aspects of Jewish culture. The JOS offers spiritual and social programming throughout the year.

This club is primarily student-driven, with meetings that will review previous contests. We administer all the math competitions that take place, including New England Math League, AMC (American Mathematics Contest), and CEMC (which is Canadian but allows international competitors.)

This is a new club, open to anyone, where members will discuss personal or public mental health struggles and how the Suffield community can help during weekly meetings. Their goal is to understand what students are looking for to improve their own mental health, as well as to sponsor events like relaxation nights, in an effort to ensure that anyone struggling is heard and not alone. 

The mindfulness and meditation club brings together individuals who want to be in touch with their wise minds. We meet once a week and start meetings with reflections on the week and then we move into a guided meditation for around 10 minutes. After the meditation we discuss observations and reflections that we made during the practice. Overall it is a safe space for all and a break from the hustle and bustle of Suffield.

Model United Nations (Model UN) serves as a powerful educational tool offering highly valuable benefits to students in this complex institution of modern education and learning. Model UN promotes the discussion of complex topics, challenging students to be active participants in today’s turmoiled and divided societies. Participants will attend a Model UN conference, a simulation of a real-life United Nations event, where students are tasked with solving a global issue through research and drafting, lobbying and debate in order to pass a suitable resolution. Students take on the roles of delegates, speakers, and chairs representing various countries working together with the common goal of reaching a solution for the agenda assigned.

Whether students are new to theater or veterans to the stage, our musical is open to everyone! This is an extracurricular program that rehearses during the fall term, in the evenings, to allow all students to be on stage. Our annual school musical is presented in December, with over 50 students involved in the production. It is the theatrical event of the year!

The Outing Club has been rekindled, with origins dating back to the early 70s. It is a student lead extracurricular group that plans and leads weekend trips outdoors. These trips including day hikes, canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, high ropes courses, camping, etc. The club is a branch of Suffield's SOLO program, which provides outdoor leadership opportunities to all students.

The Political Action Club meets every week to discuss current events and opinions relating to politics, both domestically and internationally. We cover a range of topics and political affiliations and try to include everyone in a respectful and serious conversation. Mr. Toczydlowski is the faculty advisor who, with the help of Cormac Sullivan and Paul Quinlan, leads the club.  

Pre-Health Club provides an opportunity to explore careers in healthcare. Throughout the year, guest speakers will visit campus to speak about what their day-to-day is like, what they enjoy about their career, and the steps that they took to get to where they are. 

The quiz team is a group of students who enjoy trivia about all subjects, both academic and non-academic. In addition to competing in several tournaments a year, the team also appears each year on WGBY’s high school quiz program As Schools Match Wits, competing on television against other area high schools. Interested students are welcome to come to meetings at any point throughout the year.

This student-run group promotes the embodiment of school spirit during both athletic events and other school activities. Members will choose games and events to attend, with the goal of providing extra support and enthusiasm (for example, choosing a theme for specific games). 

Student council members represent the student body and all student life experiences. Their goals are to evaluate policies they like, as well as ones that could be changed or updated; to look at building community life, both class by class and as a general social group; and to focus on philanthropy, including fundraising for the school's charity of choice each year with events such as fall color wars, a winter telethon, and charity week in the spring. Student council is open to all students, and is run by the four major student leaders, leaders from each grade, and representatives from all significant clubs on campus.

The What Would Ruth Bader Ginsburg Do (WWRBGD) Club was formed after the Notorious RBG passed to honor and celebrate her life and legacy. We are determined to keep running on the progressive path she left for us. From women's to LGBTQ+ rights, fighting for everyone and their civil liberties is a core value of our club. Everyone is welcome; you could already be an activist or you could be someone trying to learn about being an ally. Inclusive education and open-mindedness are things we try to keep at the center of our community.  

The yearbook team works together throughout the course of the full academic year to make the yearbook come to life. The club is divided into two teams: layout and photo. We have students who take photos of our teams during games, social events, and day-to-day life. For layout, students take the photos and place them into the online templates, put in names of students, put in score reports, make sure everything is neat and organized, and ensure that the essence of life at Suffield is captured. Both teams ultimately work together to make sure they are meeting deadlines and that the yearbook is the best that it can be. A highlight for our senior leaders is that they get to design the yearbook cover with a graphic designer.