Cameron Henderson-Cole ‘20

THE ROUNDUP

Religion teacher Mr. Quentin Orem and Michael Rowe ‘18 formed The Rap Club last year and it meets every Monday in Eller 210 at lunch. Members face off in head to head battles and the spectators vote on the winner.

Rowe, the founder of the club presented the idea to Mr. Orem last year and they named it Freestyle Rap Club.

“We started a freestyle rap club last year,” Mr. Orem says, but he found that allowing High School boys to freestyle allowed them to express negative impulses which was not in line of what Rowe and Mr. Orem were looking for.

As a result, the club was renamed to The Rap Club this year.

“By the middle of last year it got pretty quiet when people only came in for the raps,” Rowe said.

Mr. Orem echoed this sentiment, and said that attendance was way down at the beginning of the year.

“This year our first meeting was nearly empty, and we realized we needed to do better communication to the school,” Mr. Orem said.

Mr. Orem and Rowe spent a lunch period in August planning how to get people in the club.

“Rap club is an interesting way to help people voice their opinions Rowe said, “We’re already off to such a more explicit start this year,” he adds.

Mr. Orem also uses the club to show how the Grad at Grad principles are implemented.

At the start of every meeting, the club as a whole prays about the giving and receiving of fire. In The Rap Club, ‘“fire” is jargon for words that are really well written. Being open to the growth of accepting the raps said to you is a form of this principle.

When asked about the club, Mr. Orem said he “is excited for the future”.

Rowe said he plans to collaborate with the Brophy Advocacy Club in the future to give a voice to those that don’t have one.