Quest for Life (QFL) is one of many new clubs hoping to make an impact on Malden High School this year. Under the nonprofit Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), QFL seeks to create and host activities—called “quests” and empower community conversations about youth mental health.
The club’s founder and current advisor, Bryna Chalmer, expressed that she had heard of, “fears that students in middle and high school are losing their social-emotional skills due to constantly being on their phones.” To address this, she decided to “devise a program where teens would create experiences outside the sphere of phones and social media—these ranged from simple games such as musical chairs, to more complicated activities involving learning how to cook and sew.”
As a club that originated outside of MHS, it has gained recognition throughout the Malden Public school district for hosting afterschool programs, such as the one in Ferryway. During that time, Chalmer and the high school QFL members come in for the program. Participating students engage in fun quests ranging from several games of Mafia, rubber duck hunts played for prizes, to hide-and-seek rounds spanning most of the school building. Although simple, Chalmer emphasizes that these quests seek to provide “experiences that could change people's outlook on their mental health, and give them a chance to decide not to reach immediately for their phone.”
The club's student leadership members include sophomore and Club President Leica Naceus and freshman and reporter for The Blue and Gold, Kamani Gomes. During their time together, they collaborate to plan afterschool programming for the younger students along with working with the younger students all while “learning more about mental health.” With their connections, QFL hopes to successfully branch out their quests to MHS. So far, they have tested out the waters at the high school by hosting a duck hunt in one event and a round of hide-and-seek in the Jenkins building. In the near future, they hope to expand into a full-fledged club through their dedication and efforts.
Naceus emphasized that there is “a lot that you have to take into consideration” when coming up with ideas for quests such as, “what the students would be willing to do—because we all know that not everyone is the same and has the same interests.”
However, the members also appreciate that every Wednesday when they meet, the younger students at Ferryway always have good energy. She expressed her enjoyment of “interacting with the kids and doing our activities with them, then asking them how they felt about it afterward and receiving positive feedback… I like to see the results of the club’s hard work.” Gomes echoed this sentiment, agreeing that “watching the kids talk and laugh with each other without their phones was exciting to see.”
Eighth grader Tenzin Choezom, who has participated in QFL quests at Ferryway, expressed that he “liked the way the games made me realize that there are more ways to have fun than be on my phone all the time scrolling without a thought.” On the other hand, Sabrina Monteiro, an MHS alumna and QFL’s assistant advisor, echoed this sentiment by appreciating how being in the club “continues to assist me in trying to acquire more patience, especially when dealing with teenagers.”
Ultimately, Chalmer expressed that one of, if not the main goal of the club is to help answer whether or not the experiences it offers youth have “changed their outlook on their mental health.”
Although the club is still in the works to become truly official at MHS, members are hopeful that it will become a success. For more details, contact bchalmer@ywca.org.
