After school, a group of students fill up an art room at Revere High School for Revere Art Club. After the students sign in, they sit down at the tables in groups and start drawing on large pieces of colored paper. The students socialize and the adviser helps them by gathering supplies, drawing some of the shapes and giving them advice on how to create the art projects. 

Revere Art Club has been at Revere High School for over twenty-five years and has been run by many different art teachers at Revere, but this school year, Sarah Zustin decided that she wanted to take over the club. 

Zustin was new to Revere last school year and wanted to become the adviser of Revere Art Club to get to know more students. 

“I was a new teacher last year, and I was getting to know the ropes of the school. I just wanted to take some more responsibility, have some more time with students,” Zustin said. 

Zustin says that the club has helped her meet and spend time with students she does not have in her classes

“It has helped me meet more students, because a lot of the students that are in art club, I don’t have in class. For example, I don’t have any freshmen this year, so this is a great way for me to get to know those freshmen kids,” Zustin said. 

Another art teacher at Revere High School, Jennifer Seegert, who ran the club in years past, explained why she thinks Zustin was a good pick to take over the club. She believes that being passionate about the club helps a lot when running it. 

“You need someone who has a lot of excitement about what they’re doing. Yes, I would have taken it over but, because she’s new, it’s a perfect chance for her to get to know the kids better,” Seegert said. 

Seegert explained that the club is student led and how the adviser lets the students choose what they want to do during their meetings. 

“It would pretty much be like, we’re going to be here to advise but you guys do what you want, so it depends a lot on what the students want to do,” Seegert said. 

Zustin explained that she wants to run her club the same way, listening to the students’ voices and planning the art projects around their ideas. 

“I personally like to do things that the kids like to do, so if the students want to do it and I have the materials for it, then I’ll try and make some time for them to do it,” Zustin said. 

One of the co-presidents of Revere Art Club, Jane Torma, can confirm that Zustin works well with the students. 

“She’s very organized, and she has a lot of different ideas, but she’s also willing to work with us. It’s really good because I feel like art club is a club where there is a lot of discussion between the officers and the adviser. It feels a lot more equal which is really nice. It’s a good opportunity,” Torma said. 

The other co-president of the club, Hailey Hicks, says that Zustin was a good pick for the adviser of the club. She explained that Zustin gets very enthusiastic about the club and the students are able to match her energy.

Hicks also talked about how the club is growing this year, in the past they have not been able to do as much because of COVID-19, but without as many restrictions this year and a new adviser, the club is getting bigger. 

“The community around it has been growing, more and more people have been showing up to stuff, which is nice,” Hicks said. 

Zustin explained that her goal this year is to do more things in the community and she thinks it would be a great thing for the club. 

“I’m hoping to do a lot more community stuff within the school and outside the school . . . just continuing to connect with different clubs and groups and people around the school too,” Zustin said. 

The last project Revere Art Club worked on was making decorations for the homecoming dance. Zustin explained what they created. 

“The theme is candy land, [we came up with] different ideas and different backdrops and sceneries to make homecoming super bright and fun. . . . [we made] the board game itself in the hallway and then [we made] different icons like mints, gumdrops, candy canes, lollipops, things like that, some Instagram approved stuff,” Zustin said. 

Seegert explained what kind of art projects the club has done in the past when the students are not working on homecoming decorations. 

“We usually try to focus on projects that don’t fit into the curriculum. So things that are fun to do but there’s maybe not a lot of objectives being met. We always did tie dye . . . we did candle makings, a big one every Halloween time would be pumpkin carving, at Christmas we always did gingerbread house making, sometimes we’d do glass etching,” Seegert said. 

This year, Zustin has already done tie dying and plans to bring a lot of the old art projects done in the past back this year. Although she does not have a full plan, she explained some of the projects she would like to do with the students later in the year. 

“I like to do Shrinky Dinks; those are really fun. We have different weaving stuff that we can do . . . I know Halloween last year they did pumpkins, so different holiday stuff too,” Zustin said. 

Zustin says that the club is very easy for beginner artists to join and explained why she thinks it’s a great opportunity for them. 

“It’s perfect for somebody who’s interested in art but they don’t know if they have the talent or the skill to take a class. I think this is a good way to open that door, to see if it’s something that they want to continue,” Zustin said. 

Zustin believes that the club benefits the students and can be a great way to socialize with each other. 

“It’s a great way to get together, socialize, maybe feel a part of something, maybe feel included,” Zustin said. 

Revere Art Club meets Thursdays once a month, and Zustin and the co-presidents encourage anyone who is interested to come and join them.