The Black and White

by Alexis Warburton

The activity fair on Thursday was quite successful for all clubs here at Pilgrim. Many students are getting involved and trying new things this year which is important for Pilgrim Pride and a great social opportunity. On the topic of activities and clubs, Mr. Carlson’s Dungeon and Dragons club is one of the largest in the school. 

Mr. Carlson has been running Dungeon and Dragons at Pilgrim since 2016 and he typically has between thirty-five and fifty kids. The promotion for the club is mostly “word of mouth” – friends telling each other about the club. Mr. Carlson mentioned that his club ‘suffers’ from having too many participants but is always open to more people joining if it is something that interests them. The club now currently has three dungeon masters, with Mr. Carlson serving as a fourth one.

 Mr. Carlson stated “ I think kids need to use their imagination more” as a reason why Dungeons and Dragons is important to him and why he runs this club. Junior Oliver Flynn has just started playing, and is looking forward to “sharing stories with other people” and thinks Dungeons and Dragons is a great opportunity to do so. “We put up a lot of walls in public, and Dungeons and Dragons gives us a chance to break down those walls.” I think that is a great message and is a main factor of this club’s intentions.   

  “It is a wide range of acceptance,” according to Mr. Carlson. Every club at Pilgrim is accepting of everyone but this club seems to take it to another level with all of the different types of people involved who can all come together and truly be themselves and have fun. From athletes, to theater, to kids who do not overly participate in school, acceptance seems to be one factor of what makes the club so strong. 

Dungeons and Dragons is currently meeting on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school, with seven to eight participants per adventure. Mr. Carlson did mention that a normal adventure is five to six participants but everyone comes together to support the higher number of players.

I personally enjoyed learning more about this club and if anyone is interested in joining, I think this is a great club for any student here at Pilgrim to get involved in.