Highschool Sororities....

[ChiOJenn78]

My highschool didn't have hs sororities, but since it was an all-girls hs, I guess you could call us one big sorority We did have Big Sisters when we were freshman, and then when we were juniors we got Little Sisters. That was the closest thing we had. Anyhoo, I had never heard of sororities in high school until I moved down here to Galveston and they have 3 or 4 at the hs here. I think it's kind of silly, personally, to have a sorority in hs.

Funny story-I was taking a dress to get altered because I was coming back for one of Mr.ChiOJenn's formals and the lady doing the alterations was asking me what it was for, and I told her a fraternity formal. She was like, oh, what sorority are you in? Is it blah blah blah(started naming off the hs sorority names)-I was like, um NO. Do I still look like I'm in hs?? Anyhoo....

[risingstar]

My high school has several sororities. A lot of the schools in my area have them. That is all.

[Elephant Walk]

Definitely had them. One white sorority (Delta Beta Sigma), it seemed like they had alot of fun. And a black fraternity, all I know is they went by the Beta's. From my limited knowledge, it seemed like Arkansas had alot of chapters of DBS.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by IAmMysticCat

BECAUSE i AM NOT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD?

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

You need to get in the corner.
Nose to the wall.

LOL LiKE, THAT WOULDVE BEEN MY ANSWER CAUSE THE SORORiTiE COMES BEFORE i DO! THERES NO i iN SORORiTie...

(oh damn, there's 2... shyte... now what?)

[JWithers]

In my HS we had service organizations like Anchor Club and Key Club, which are (I assume) off-shoots of GLOs. I know in Anchor we had a ritual initiation and were very selective about whom we invited to join. GPA and extra-curricular were taken into consideration also. We had interviews with alums and had to write an essay.

I went to a college with no GLOs but transferred to a larger U and then for post-grad and was always interested in college sororities. A colleague of mine in grad school told me to ask about post-grad recruitment (she said 'rush' was verboten)? I never heard of that. Is it a real thing? I won't reveal the org. in case it's wrong info. But I love the histories behind your orgs. and think it's a really interesting concept.

I especially love the symbolism behind the flowers and colors. I love the book by Geri Laufer "Tussie Mussies" which reveals the medieval and rennaissance meanings behind many different flowers and how the combinations of these flowers contained hidden meanings.

[Pike_Cardinal]

We didn't have greek organizations at my HS, and I'm sure it's rather unheard of in Ky period. Although, I do know a girl who said there was one sorority in her HS. I don't think I like the idea of it. There being one organization, which was apparently elitist, negatively skewed her opinion of greek life.

[fantASTic]

I can't think that high school GLO's are a good idea. Kids in high school are too judgemental and elitist as it is; do we REALLY need to give them a reason to behave poorly to others? No; no is the answer to that question.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by Pike_Cardinal

We didn't have greek organizations at my HS, and I'm sure it's rather unheard of in Ky period.

I knew a girl in college who had gone to HS in Louisville KY, and she talked about being in a sorority in high school. She talked about it during rush, and I remember that a lot of us stood around her and listened to her stories during one of our rush parties (looking back, I wonder what all the other rushees were doing!). She had some pretty interesting things to say. She didn't go KD, or I'd probably have heard more stories. I'd like to hear what her college experiences were like compared to her HS sorority experiences.

Anyway, maybe it's only common in the bigger cities. Or maybe it's unheard of now (she talked about it when she was a freshman in college, in the early 90's).

[_Lisa_]

Originally Posted by Pike_Cardinal

We didn't have greek organizations at my HS, and I'm sure it's rather unheard of in Ky period.

Its not unheard of in Lexington, they've got Reveler. And from what I hear, its still going strong!

[Xidelt]

Originally Posted by JWithers

In my HS we had service organizations like Anchor Club and Key Club, which are (I assume) off-shoots of GLOs. I know in Anchor we had a ritual initiation and were very selective about whom we invited to join. GPA and extra-curricular were taken into consideration also. We had interviews with alums and had to write an essay.

I went to a college with no GLOs but went to a larger U for post-grad and was always interested in college sororities. A colleague of mine in grad school told me to ask about post-grad recruitment (she said 'rush' was verboten)? I never heard of that. Is it a real thing? I won't reveal the org. in case it's wrong info. But I love the histories behind your orgs. and think it's a really interesting concept.

I especially love the symbolism behind the flowers and colors. I love the book by Geri Laufer "Tussie Mussies" which reveals the medieval and rennaissance meanings behind many different flowers and how the combinations of these flowers contained hidden meanings.

Key Club and many of those high school service clubs are sponsored by civic clubs like the Kiwanis Int or Rotary Clubs. They also have college level equivalents so students can continue their involvement. At the college and university level, Key Club is known as Circle K.

There are also opportunities to be involved in sororities outside of college. NPC sororities are not the only type. Community sororities also offer sisterhood, ritual, and symbolism and have social and philanthropic activities. They just don't happen to be affiliated with a college. Examples are Beta Sigma Phi or Epsilon Sigma Alpha. Google the term "community sororities" and you should get several results.

[bejazd]

I belonged to a high school "sorority" in Southern California. We called them "off campus" clubs. My mother belonged to a similar group at North Hollywood HS in the 50's. aside from the social aspect, they were not really sororities. I believe these clubs were off shoots from when the YMCA sponsored activities like dances and pep rallies at high schools in the 50s. I don't know if they exist anymore as I don't live in the area now...the schools generally frowned upon the whole thing as they viewed it the same thing as a gang, and there was no control by the school.

interestingly enough, these clubs were not elitist at all. Friendly rivalry would be a better description. It was the Key Club that was elitist, because it had to sponsored by a teacher, and therefore the membership was limited to 30...at a school with over 3000 students! There was a lot of sucking up involved in getting in the Key Club!

[ms_gwyn]

Originally Posted by bejazd

I belonged to a high school "sorority" in Southern California. We called them "off campus" clubs. My mother belonged to a similar group at North Hollywood HS in the 50's. aside from the social aspect, they were not really sororities. I believe these clubs were off shoots from when the YMCA sponsored activities like dances and pep rallies at high schools in the 50s. I don't know if they exist anymore as I don't live in the area now...the schools generally frowned upon the whole thing as they viewed it the same thing as a gang, and there was no control by the school.

interestingly enough, these clubs were not elitist at all. Friendly rivalry would be a better description. It was the Key Club that was elitist, because it had to sponsored by a teacher, and therefore the membership was limited to 30...at a school with over 3000 students! There was a lot of sucking up involved in getting in the Key Club!

WOW

This sounds like my High School and the Tri-Hi-Y clubs my sister was a founding member of Le Aikanes and I was a member of Lanakila. They were not sororities but sorority-like.

Gwyn

[JWithers]

Originally Posted by Xidelt

Key Club and many of those high school service clubs are sponsored by civic clubs like the Kiwanis Int or Rotary Clubs. They also have college level equivalents so students can continue their involvement. At the college and university level, Key Club is known as Circle K.

There are also opportunities to be involved in sororities outside of college. NPC sororities are not the only type. Community sororities also offer sisterhood, ritual, and symbolism and have social and philanthropic activities. They just don't happen to be affiliated with a college. Examples are Beta Sigma Phi or Epsilon Sigma Alpha. Google the term "community sororities" and you should get several results.

That is really interesting! Thanks. I am out of school now, but it is still a fact I will bet many people don't know.

[REE1993]

Being geeky Catholic school kids, the club to be in was a certain church's Youth Group. My high school had kids from about 10 nearby towns. The church's youth group was comprised of kids from our co-ed high school which was one town over from the Church, the boy's prep school two towns away, and a small girls' prep school 4 towns away.

Many of us from other towns left our home churches and joined this particular town's parish (as official adult roster members who contributed weekly to the collection plate and such), simply to become a member of their youth group. (Most towns only had one or two Catholic Churches). We sang in the choir, ran Emmaus retreats, held dances every month, held service events every month, free coffee and donuts after mass every Sunday...etc. There was actually a waiting list to get into the group because it became so large. Eventually, we had to split some events and meetings by grade (frosh/soph and junior/senior).

One of our coolest endeavors was an offshoot into the hunger prevention movement in the 80s. Our group, Youth Ending Hunger, encompassed students from all over the country, and culminated yearly with an invitation-only visit and presentation to ambassadors from over 75 countries at the UN. We held fundraisers, awareness events, and participated in conference calls weekly.

To be a member of this youth group was well-known enough in the state that many recruiters of local colleges knew of it. Kids from every typical HS cliques - jocks/cheerleaders; theatre/choir; honors track; the rockers/goth/burnout crew; math and science wizzes; foreign language and culture group - were represented in the Youth Group.

So, no Sorority or Fraternity, but definitely a group that "who you knew" made you more likely to be socially accepted within the group, which meant that you hung out together outside the official events. Also, there were a few invitation- or by-application and selection-only leadership opportunities and programs that we all worked hard to be chosen to attend.

We were by no means the "popular kids" but usually the kids who ran a lot of committees, volunteered, and the kids who other kids' parents would trust their children to hang with. (Drinking and smoking were prohibited at all events, and discouraged at home parties). All official business was conducted with adult supervision and for liability reasons.

I guess it was a great preparation and segue into Gamma Sigma Sigma.

Anyway, that's my story.

[Senusret I]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShNmeH5xsJw

A high school sorority probate.