The club list at Monarch fills the better part of a page, and in small print at that. Clubs are an integral part of Monarch’s community and diversity, no matter how big or small they may be. One of the smaller, lesser known, but equally interesting clubs, is the Seventh Period Push Up Club.

This health conscious group meets every day in the first few minutes of seventh period in the downstairs A, World Languages Office. It was a happy coincidence when “we found out we all had seventh period off,” said Duplechin.

They trickle in during passing period, shed their backpacks, and join in on the playful Spanglish conversation always present in this office.

Once everyone is accounted for, or club sponsor Melissa Duplechin gets tired of waiting (whichever comes first, usually the former), they proceed to hit the deck and complete as many push ups as they can in the period of a minute.

As floor space is limited, members can be found cramming into any and all corners of the office doing push ups nearly on top of each other.  The members face two physical challenges; the first being the actual push ups, and the second being jockeying for space.

This semester, sophomore Connor Welch aides for the office during seventh period, and has therefore been given the great honor of manning the stopwatch for the club. However,  guests such as Monarch graduate Greg Przedpelski (Class of 2012 spanish enthusiast)  have been known to keep time on visits as well.

Duplechin says that the club’s origin dates back to a couple of years ago when she and her student assistants  would informally and infrequently do push ups together. Back then, her objective was “trying to see how many I could do for a personal goal” says Duplechin. The club has now evolved into so much more.

Duplechin says that her new aspiration for the Seventh Period Pushup Club is “to inspire young people today to be able to stay healthy and continue to work on their physical as well as mental and emotional well being.”

To the students and staff of Monarch, Duplechin wishes only to say, “Stay strong Monarch, stay strong.”