Comic book-anime club welcomes everyone
“I’m the sponsor for a comic book and anime club at my school. It’s kind of gotten a reputation around campus as the sanctuary for misfits. The stereotype that you get is the nerd, the ones who hide out in basements and are not social. As worrisome as that stereotype might be, I don’t reject it. I am sort of a magnet for socially awkward people and those who don’t really belong anywhere else. It’s something that I’ve come to take great pride in. My classroom is a home to everybody.
“One thing I’ve seen multiple times is that I’ll get kids who are withdrawn, shy and lacking confidence, and a few weeks in my club transforms them. I met a kid the year before who would only come to the club occasionally. He suffers from depression. He doesn’t feel like he has a place in the world. But toward the end of the year, I approached him about being president of the club. It confused him. He didn’t understand why I would choose him rather than someone who came all the time. I told him that I’ve seen some of the things he’s written and created artisticwise. And he has a way of speaking to other people, even though he doesn’t like to, and they listen. I told him, ‘I think you’re the right man for this.’
“Sure enough, when I saw him again in his junior year, he became more social. He was more willing to go up to a group of strangers and introduce himself. He has a long way to go. There have been times where he has allowed his insecurities and his struggles with depression to kind of interfere with his development. But as we move into his senior year, I want to continue to work with him and kind of foster his leadership skills. This is not somebody who would be able to join the football team or student council, those sorts of things. But in our club, he could be a leader. How I hope that translates into his future life is that he can build a career around his interests and the skills that he learns socially in the club.
“A lot of these kids feel like there is not a future in fandom. But I tell them, if you feel like you can do this, you can do this. If you want to try it, try it. I’m all about uplifting, elevating, empowering. I don’t want anybody to feel like they don’t belong or they don’t have a future where they can be happy. Because everybody deserves that.”
— Jeff Derrickson
Jeff grew up in Baytown. He is an English teacher at North Shore High School.
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