Student Life

Clubs and Activities

Follow your passion. Discover a new one. Get Involved.

Saint Gertrude students’ interests are wide spread, and clubs provide learning beyond the classroom. With several clubs to choose from, these student-run organizations are a space for students to cultivate leadership skills and teamwork. Students in all grades can join clubs that reflect their interests, or they can start their own (and they do!). Every club has a faculty advisor and a student club leader who organizes meetings and events—another opportunity to enhance communication and leadership skills.

List of 13 items.

  • Gator Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP)

    The Gator Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP) is a student-created initiative aimed at encouraging students to get outdoors and to nurture an appreciation for the natural world.  Student members plan outings that are open to the entire student body and seek ways to educate the school community on opportunities to be better stewards of our environment.
  • GatorAides

    GatorAides is a peer facilitation and mediation group which strives to support the mission and values of Saint Gertrude while building camaraderie and kindness among classmates. GatorAides are, first and foremost, expected to be a positive force in the school community as well as a model of the Benedictine values of kindness, respect, community, hospitality, stewardship, and spirituality. Students interested in participating in this program must apply, be interviewed, and have a faculty recommendation.
  • Honor Council

    The purpose of the Honor Council is to educate the student body on the ‘spirit of honor’ within the school community. Also, the council handles violations of the Honor Code. With each member serving a two-year term, the Honor Council consists of six members, three from the senior class and three from the junior class. A faculty moderator oversees the Honor Council and attends all hearings.
  • Model General Assembly

    Sponsored by the Virginia YMCA, members of Model General Assembly gain a greater sense of civic responsibility while interacting with students from throughout the state of Virginia. The group will research and sponsor bills to be debated in the student-operated Model General Assembly. Students journey to the Virginia State Capitol for a long weekend in the spring, taking on the roles of senators, delegates, pages, lobbyists, and reporters to get a hands-on view of how state government works and how a bill becomes a law.
  • Model Judiciary

    The Model Judiciary Program is a joint effort between the Virginia YMCA and the Young Lawyers Section of the Virginia Bar Association. This program is designed to give students from Virginia high schools the opportunity to gain first-hand experience with the operation of our judicial system. Students work throughout the year to take on the roles of lawyers and witnesses on one side of a trial that will be presented before a real judge. Students in the past have had the opportunity to go on and present arguments at the appellate level and before the Supreme Court of Virginia.
  • Robotics Club

    FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics is a national organization that hosts engineering competitions with a focus on developing intelligent and conscientious critical thinkers and problem solvers. FIRST provides a unique opportunity for students to build self confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. Members of Saint Gertrude’s Robotics Club work together to build a robot and participate in regional and state competitions for FIRST Technology Challenge (FTC) in the winter. Additionally, they work together with Cadets from Benedictine to build a much larger robot for FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC). Both FTC and FRC include awards not only for design, programming, and performance of a particular task, but also teamwork, community outreach, and professionalism.
  • Spirit Club

    The Spirit Club nurtures a positive spirit for athletics and encourages young women to get involved in sports. This club strives to acknowledge the dedication and hard work of individual athletes as well as the value of teamwork. Often the Spirit Club sponsors pep rallies for the promotion of school-wide recognition of athletic teams and their accomplishments.
  • Sponsors

    The Sponsors program is a long-standing tradition between Benedictine College Preparatory and Saint Gertrude High School. Each of the approximately 20 top-ranking officers at Benedictine College Prep ask a Saint Gertrude senior to be the “Sponsor” of his military company or department for the year. Sponsors attend and participate in various informal and formal military events throughout the school year. In addition, Sponsors and Sponsoring Officers work together to collaborate with administration from both schools to plan and execute the annual Benedictine Schools of Richmond Day of Service.
  • Stuart Avenue Players (Theater)

    Stuart Avenue Players is a club for students interested in drama, including acting, technical theater, and attending live performances. Activities include participation onstage or backstage for Saint Gertrude’s fall musical, winter one-act play, and spring play; drama workshops with guest speakers; group tickets to community shows, and backstage theater tours. Student members direct the one-act play, suggest ideas for future school musicals and plays, and inform the school about theater activities and opportunities.
  • Student Cooperative Association (SCA)

    The purpose of the SCA (Student Cooperative Association) is to provide opportunities for student leadership and to establish a spirit of cooperation between the student body, the faculty, and the administration. Members of the SCA are elected by the students and faculty approval is required. The SCA president, vice-president, and secretary/treasurer are elected school-wide, and each individual class elects two SCA class representatives. The president of the SCA represents the students on the PTSO Board.
  • Tower Yearbook

    Yearbook is offered as a year-long elective course. Students on the yearbook staff learn skills in layout, design, writing, and editing a major publication using a web-based software program. Staff members are also involved in providing photography coverage for school events and creating graphics. Tower members are creative preservers of school history as they design an imaginative and fun record of the school year for posterity.
  • Women for a Cause

    Women for a Cause is devoted to inspiring the Saint Gertrude community to keep the innate human dignity of all people at the forefront of our school activities and dialogue. Saint Gertrude strives to maintain a school culture that appreciates and celebrates diversity, and this club helps support this mission through various student-led initiatives. Past projects include: Black History Month door decorating contests and student-led presentations, International Day of the Girl celebrations, field trips to attend the National March for Life in Washington, DC, and school-wide random acts of kindness during National Bullying Prevention Month.
  • World Language Club

    The World Language Club is inclusive of all students who study or have studied a foreign language at Saint Gertrude. The goals of the club are to increase awareness of our multicultural community and to improve, practice, or learn different languages with peers as often as possible. The club creates engagement with the BSoR community through a variety of culturally specific events organized by students, including but not limited to an international potluck dinner, school-wide weekly trivia, the World Language Week trivia game, a Chinese New Year celebration and scavenger hunt, and a Mardi Gras and Carnival party and parade.