As the Reviving Ophelia Leaders plan out their next trip to the roller garden, the members in grades nine to twelve, socialize while doing their arts and crafts. The Reviving Ophelia club has provided a relaxing haven for girls of all ages in the Senior High, and their overflow of fun activities throughout the year created amazing experiences for all involved.

The Reviving Ophelia club’s purpose is to gather girls to talk about the issues they face in high school and problems women in the past have dealt with. Amanda Anderson and Leah Klister run the club. Anderson started the club when a student transferred from a school in Kentucky to BSM in 2002; he took part in a Reviving Ophelia club at her previous school, and hoped BSM would start up a similar club.

The name “Reviving Ophelia” comes from a book written by Mary Pipher, a psychologist who worked with adolescent girls and found that they had self-confidence issues because of the culture they grew up in. Pipher wrote about this in her book Reviving Ophelia. Ophelia was a character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet who committed suicide because “she wasn’t able to find herself,” as Klister puts it.

Each year the activities the group coordinates changes because the group of girls who take part  in Reviving Ophelia varies as well. “It kind of depends on the group of girls that are involved, what they want to do, and what they want to focus on,” Anderson said. This year, there are four leaders of Reviving Ophelia who help organize the events. They include Sophomores Anna von Kampen, Sabrina Ehrmantraut, Sophia Wolf, and Sarah Randall. They have already been to the Apple Orchard in Minnetonka and are arranging a White Elephant gift exchange, and they plan on going roller skating and ending the year with a Chuck E. Cheese party.

“I like that it’s all grades and that you can just come here and you can have fun,” said von Kampen. So if you’re looking for a low-key group to join next school year, Reviving Ophelia is a place for all Senior High girls to relax and have fun. “We just kind of find the inner child,” Anderson said.