Collecting is a huge part of people’s lives. For many, it is a big hobby, while for others it may be something they partake in without even realizing it. Collections can come in multiple forms and sizes, and regardless of how involved one is in the hobby, the Collectors Club has created an outlet for people to share their collections, whether it’s trading cards, shoes, art, or any kind of memorabilia.
Collecting can bring all kinds of people together, like junior President Jason Doan and gym teacher and advisor of Collectors Club, Jonathan Currier, who claimed he “shared the same common interest,” and “wanted to share that vision with the students at Malden High School.”
For Currier, collecting had been a part of his life since his childhood. He believed that it helped build “an easy connection with some friends,” and that it was something he enjoyed doing.
As a result, the Collectors Club was formed. The club offers an outlet for students to share their passions and “to express what they love and what they cherish,” said Doan. Students are given the opportunity to discover new interests, trade, and play with other members of the club.
Although the club is centered around collections, the community is open to all high schoolers, even if they don’t have an extensive collection. The main priority of the club is to bring together students who want to learn about collecting and to be part of a community without heavy commitments.
Many members are hoping to be able to build a strong community. Junior Event Coordinator JB Mac wants to ensure everyone can have fun and “feel seen” and “not feel left out.”
The officers have already started planning ahead events, something that students can look forward to. Mac aims to “host events that are easily accessible and enjoyable to all,” and feature guest speakers at meetings who are “significant” to the collecting community with backgrounds in Malden.
There are other events planned, such as Show and Tell, where students can “show off their collections that they’ve accumulated over time,” shared junior Social Media Coordinator Gesselle Rodriguez Portillo. She expressed her excitement for this event because she enjoyed the idea of people “getting into similar interests” as her and being “able to explore different communities that people enjoy.”
Junior Social Media Coordinator Lillyanna Keogh agreed with Portillo and shared that she is “looking forward to seeing what everyone collects, and trading with others.”
The Collectors Club has even managed to form connections with other local trading communities outside of Malden High. They’ve been in contact with Tabletop Cards & Games, a recently opened collectible store in Malden, which hosts different tournaments, from Pokémon to Beyblades. The officers have planned to have outings there, encouraging students to become “engrossed in a collector’s hobby environment,” noted Currier.
While the club is primarily about bringing together a community, it also offers a place for students to learn and build entrepreneurial skills. One part of collecting is selling, buying, and trading, which can form skills that could eventually be applied to other aspects of life.
Through the Collectors Club, Currier mentioned that students can begin building “real world business skills of understanding market trends,” and “analyzing data” to put students in “a position to build entrepreneurial skills and grow their collections.”
Regardless if a student is attending meetings to share their passion or to build real-world skills, the club officers are focused on emphasizing that it is a community, where “everyone is welcomed and every collection is welcomed,” concluded Doan.
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