Eliza Gwin & Lara Schuerhoff
Staff Writers
Cereal and coloring is an unlikely pair, but it has been merged together at Alexandria City High School to form the Cereal and Coloring Club (CCC). In mid-February, the CCC was formed, and since then, members have enjoyed a new cereal weekly while coloring in coloring books to relax.
The club was founded by sophomores Lucy Savarie and Lauren Fenty, longtime cereal lovers. “I’m new to [ACHS] and wanted to find a way to bring people together,” said Fenty, “Everyone loves cereal.” Sophomore Ellie Leibfried serves as the Vice-President and manager of the @cerealandcoloringclub Instagram account. The account has almost 40 followers and receives engagement from ACHS students.
The club meets every Tuesday in room B218. Every week, the club enjoys a new cereal provided by the club leaders. “There’s a lot of preparation that goes into these meetings; we debate about the cereal,” said Savarie. “[The cereal] is based on what the group wants to do […] sometimes it’s a little controversial,” said Leibfried. The CCC’s first meeting featured Lucky Charms and Honey Nut Cheerios. The club tries to include two or more types of cereals to include everyone based on their tastes.
“Shout out to the science classroom two doors down that allows us to store the milk and cereal,” said Savarie. The club provides whole milk and almond milk in order to meet students’ dietary preferences. However, they are still working out some kinks in the system, and often find that debating about, buying, and bringing the cereal and milk to school is a difficult task.
“Our sponsor Ms. Batalla is great; she has the room prepared, she prints out coloring sheets for us, she has markers for us,” said Savarie. Batalla participates in the club’s activities and plays music for the club members, making the environment even more relaxing. “We think it’s really important to have a de-stressing activity during school because students feel pressured to constantly be working, so it’s nice to be able to take some time for yourself,” said Leibfried.
Sometimes, the CCC incorporates fun cereal or coloring-related activities into the meetings. For example, at the most recent meeting on March 15, Fenty introduced a cereal-themed Kahoot to further entertain members. Questions included the history of cereal and fun facts about cereal, which made for fun, friendly competition.
The CCC made a new rule to prevent students from taking cereal and leaving, as the leaders have noticed that people take advantage of the free cereal. Students have to color while they enjoy a bowl of cereal to preserve cereal for loyal members.
“Going forward we would like to search for more philanthropic causes like food drives for local shelters,” said Fenty. The CCC would like to branch outward with its new following and participate in charity events. The members of the CCC could be able to apply their love of cereal to community service.
Regardless of the CCC’s humble beginnings, it has been mocked on social media. “Surprisingly we face a lot of backlash…(laughter from group)…I’m not even kidding, I’m dead serious,” said Leibfried. “People like to make fun of our club because they think it’s not serious,” added Savarie. “We hear a lot of ‘why’s,’” said Leibfried. “But why not? That’s my response to the hate.”
