Student Activities and Clubs
Find your footing, expand your mindset, and explore your passions in a club!
Clubs and activities meet regularly and are advised by a faculty member. Students lead the creation and organization of the clubs and activities; the list provided here may change or expand from year to year.
Students can dabble in some, many or all of the Upper School’s clubs and activities, and if students want to fully immerse themselves in one, they may be able to use it to fulfill their 40-hour activity requirement. Remember: Each year in Upper School, students must play one sport and participate in one 40-hour activity; students’ 40-hour activity can be an additional sport – or it can be a 40-hour club or activity listed below.
As you will see below, some (but not all) clubs and activities are designated as a “40-hour activity”; students interested in receiving activity credit need not only to fulfill the 40-hour requirements as stipulated by the club or activity but also to receive the approval by the faculty advisor for having done so.
That said, most Penn Charter students participate in several clubs and activities just for fun, not for credit.
Art Club
Faculty Advisor: Joy Lai
The Art Club exists to foster a creative space for anyone and everyone, regardless of their level of interest in the arts. The group is instructed in various art techniques and skills, including, but not limited to, photography, film, ceramics, painting, drawing, and design, which students can apply to other school projects, such as the Capstone.
Asian Student Association (ASA)
Faculty Advisors: Kristin Kelly, Cory Moy, Joy Lai, Tony Yoo
ASA is a club that provides an affinity space for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students and aims to connect and educate peers on culture, history, and current events. We hope to create this community — through weekly meetings and occasional presentations — to make our AANHPI classmates feel represented and supported.
Black Student Union
Faculty Advisor: Naté Hall, Kaila Mu'min and Brionna Johnson *40-hour activity
Explores issues of identity and affinity around race and culture, relevant to students who self-identify as persons of African descent. The group holds discussions around topics in the media, focusing on the ideas of education, celebration and remembrance.
Board Game Club
Faculty Advisor: Peter Morton
The Board Game Club is for any student who loves to play, learn about, or even design board games.
Book Club
Faculty Advisor: Doug Uhlmann and Faith Ward *40-hour activity
Club members discuss what they're reading at home, what they're reading for school, and whatever is on their mind.
Cancer Awareness Club
Faculty Advisor: Anne Coleman
The Cancer Awareness Club’s mission is to provide understanding and awareness of different cancers, to allow people to share stories and to provide a space for students to offer or receive support if they have been affected by cancer in any way.
Cheer Club
Faculty Advisor: Lisa Turner
Chess Club
Faculty Advisor: Laura Mansfield
Students gather to play chess, hone skills and test new tactics – and then compete against other schools in matches. No prior experience needed!
Chinese Club
Faculty Advisor: Cory Moy
Chinese Club is bringing Chinese language and culture to PC with new school traditions and activities for everyone to enjoy. Club activities may include, campus-wide celebration of Chinese New Year, Chinese cooking class, Kung Fu class, holiday snacks, Tai Chi relaxation, art, philosophy, mythology, food tasting, and the Chopstick Olympics!
Club Shalom
Faculty Advisor: Christy Schwartz *40-hour activity
Penn Charter’s Jewish affinity group — all are welcome!
Coding Club
Faculty Advisor: Laura Mansfield
Creative Writing Club
Faculty Advisor: Kristen Kelly
Creative Writing Club has exciting weekly prompts and activities that allow students to express themselves through their writing. There is a rainbow of opportunities for this storytelling community to explore various genres and forms (poetry, prose, songwriting, scriptwriting, etc.)!
Drama Club
Faculty Advisor: Ari Baker
Ethics Bowl Club
Faculty Advisor: Ed Marks, Michael LoStracco, Bob Vierlinck
The Ethics Bowl Club meets solely in the fall. We meet several times a week, after school, to prepare for the Regional Ethics Bowl (part of the National High School Ethics Bowl) competition at Villanova in late November.
Finance Club
Faculty Advisor: Alyson Goodner
Finance club helps students at PC get a head start on their interests in the financial world. We analyze companies, listen to speakers who work in finance, and participate in market simulations amongst one another and against other schools.
Food Security Club
Faculty Advisor: Alyson Goodner
This club supports local organizations alleviating food insecurity in Philadelphia, while gaining a deeper understanding of food insecurity and developing authentic connections with those who have limited food access.
French Club
Faculty Advisor: Marianna Allen
In French Club, members will watch movies, eat French treats, bake French goodies, and hang out at various museums! We will host bake sales, play fun games, and learn a lot about French Culture.
Green Club
Faculty Advisor: Tom Rickards
The Upper School Green Club is a student-led group that meets weekly and explores a variety of topics relating to environmental stewardship and issues of sustainability. We touch on issues that are both local and global. Students help maintain our campus gardens, participate in local service projects through Friends of the Wissahickon (and other local environmental groups), and going on hikes and getting out in nature! We work to maintain our collective awareness of the school's environmental footprint through our daily campus life.
Latin Club
Faculty Advisor: Jenny Baer Mammana
Latin Club makes all things Roman fun! Join us for trivia games, scavenger hunts, movies and weekly challenges.
Math Club
Faculty Advisor: Liz Flemming
The Math Club meets weekly to practice for contests and expand our ability with challenging problems, which is useful for contests as well as for SAT prep and just increasing our brain power. Members will also be encouraged to take the various contests offered at the school, including Pa. Math League (PAML), Mandelbrot (a contest similar to PAML) and the American Math Contest (AME), and could potentially compete in off-campus competitions. Students may take the contests without attending the practice sessions.
Math Mentorship Club
Faculty Advisor: Liz Flemming
Microfinance Club
Faculty Advisory: Alyson Goodner *40-hour activity
Microfinance educates students about microfinance while selecting and monitoring various investments in South American entrepreneurs. This year the club is also partnering with the QuakeMakers Social Entrepreneurship Club to create a small fund to support the ideas of our Penn Charter social entrepreneurs.
The Mirror
Faculty Advisory: Nora Landon *40-hour activity
The Mirror is the PC community newspaper, the oldest school newspaper in America. As a member you will pitch article ideas, write articles and learn basic editing skills. In 1777, Penn Charter student Samuel M. Fox published the first school newspaper in America and Europe while British troops occupied the City of Philadelphia and were billeted in his own school building.
Mock Trial
Faculty Advisor: Errol Flynn *40-hour activity
In Mock Trial you will participate in a mock court trial as a witness or attorney. Mock Trial is great for those who want to improve their speaking and writing skills and in general is a great community-building club.
Model UN
Faculty Advisors: Ed Marks and Ryan Aponte *40-hour activity
Model United Nations is a club focused on global politics. We meet once a week to discuss recent political events and we also compete as a team in simulations of the United Nations at a few conferences.
Morgan's Message
Faculty Advisor: Emily Brennan
Morgan's Message strives to break the stigma surrounding mental health especially in student-athletes. We have weekly check-ins and aim to learn from and support each other as we have conversations about mental health.
Multiracial Student Association (MSA)
Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Hitschler
This association will be (but is not limited to) a space to freely discuss topics and issues involving the multiracial population in and outside of the PC community.
Penn Charter Ambassadors Club
Faculty Advisors: Rachel Codkind *40-hour activity
The Penn Charter Ambassadors Program is a group of student leaders who work directly with the admissions office to interact with prospective families. Some of the responsibilities include: providing comprehensive tours of campus, assisting the admissions office during open houses and student panels, hosting students during their visit days, contributing to the PC Ambassadors Student Blog and serving as a representative of the Penn Charter community.
Performing Arts Opportunities
Penn Charter has many varied offerings in the Performing Arts that satisfy the 40-hour activity requirement.
Girls a Capella; Boys a Capella Faculty Advisor: Tony Yoo
Quakers Dozen (also a capella) Faculty Advisor: Tony Yoo
Jazz Band Faculty Advisor: Brad Ford
Percussion Ensemble Faculty Advisor: Brad Ford
Brass Ensemble Faculty Advisor: Brad Ford
Upper School Play Director: TBD
Upper School Musical Director: TBD
Stage Crew Faculty Advisor: Michael Roche
Theater Club Faculty Advisor: Ari Baker
Pit Orchestra Faculty Advisor: Brad Ford
Premier League Club
Faculty Advisor: Josh Oberfield
Are you a Manchester supporter? Liverpool? Crystal Palace? This is the club for you. Participants discuss the latest happening in the league, watch highlights, and otherwise immerse themselves in soccer’s most exciting league.
Public Purpose Council
Faculty Advisor: Sharon Ahram
Members engage in community service and volunteer projects across the city of Philadelphia. We also provide a space for students to collaborate with others and address social issues within the greater community. Leaders of the Public Purpose Council organize regular meetings, steer fellow Public Purpose Council members and help to organize projects, Day of Service, MLK Day of Service, and larger school-wide service initiatives. The co-clerks for the year are chosen by the body of the Public Purpose Council through Quaker consensus.
Quake Makers Social Entrepreneurship Club
Faculty Advisor: Alyson Goodner *40-hour activity
Quake Makers is dedicated to bringing entrepreneurship to Penn Charter by helping students start their own real companies, make connections with the Philly startup scene, and learn about business in a hands-on way. Every student who starts a company will have the opportunity to pitch that company Shark Tank-style (with less screaming, of course) to a group of panelists made up of venture capitalists, educators, entrepreneurs and other interesting people at our annual pitch competition for a chance to receive funding for their company.
Quaker Crew
Faculty Advisor: Sharon Ahram, Nicole Martz, Emily Kleinle
PC proud! Quaker Crew strives to grow school spirit, for athletics and the arts. It is a student-led club that schedules themes for important athletic games and rallies attendance at big arts productions to bring students together and cheer each other on. The club attempts to provide a fun and inclusive experience for everyone at PC.
Religious Life Committee
Faculty Advisor: Michael LoStracco
This student and faculty group is charged with the care of Meeting for Worship in the Upper School, and with the Quaker life of the Upper School, more broadly. We work with students and student groups to prepare queries for Meeting and other programming for Meeting, including alternative Meetings that happen regularly in the Upper School.
Robotics Team
Faculty Advisors: Tim Clarke and John Tralie *40-hour activity
Robotics meets during Flex and after school to build and test robots as part of the FIRST FTC Program. Work on the current year's robot starts in September. Club members also take part in interscholastic competitions from November through March. Students must participate after school, in competitions, and have faculty advisor approval to earn 40-hour credit.
Rock Climbing Club
Faculty Advisor: Dan Pacifico and Tom Rickards
Participants will learn the techniques, skills, and safety procedures of climbing. The group will meet three times a week during the spring season at the Stillwagon Climbing Wall at the Graham Athletics and Wellness Center.
Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA)
Faculty Advisors: Maria Adamson, Emma Cohen-Westbrook, Joy Lai *40-hour activity
SAGA exists to foster a community for LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies within Penn Charter. The group aims to support LGBTQ+ students, educate the student body on LGBT+ issues, and engage in activism on the behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.
Spanish and Latino Association (SALSA)
Faculty Advisor: Indira Corales
SALSA is the Spanish and Latino Student Association at Penn Charter. Everybody is welcome! In SALSA we discuss Latino and Spanish Culture, Politics and International Relations in both their native countries and the US. Students watch videos, play games and occasionally cook and eat native food.
Wednesday Weekly
Faculty Advisor: Michael Roche
Penn Charter’s news show! The weekly two-to-three minute segments are anchored, written, filmed and produced by students.
Women in Business Club
Faculty Advisor: Alyson Goodner
This group aims to teach women to excel and stand out in a male-dominated industry. The idea of going to business school or entering the corporate field can be pretty scary, so we have created a safe space where girls can feel confident about who they are and what they want to pursue. Its name notwithstanding, this club is open to anyone.