If you enter Truckee High School’s old gymnasium on a Monday during lunch, you will come across a crowd of people eating and discussing their faith. This group is Soul Food, a recent version of a Christian club that has been at THS for over 30 years.
Soul Food is one of two official religious clubs on campus, both of which are Christian. However, there are still unofficial clubs and communities, such as the newer Jewish club, referred to as “Jewish Crew”, hosted in English and Journalism teacher Alexander Close’s room.
With more than six adult representatives from multiple churches leading discussions, Soul Food is open to anyone, Christian or otherwise, “as long as they do so safely and without judgment,” according to the club constitution. Most days, they will open the meeting with food, giving a portion to each attendee before beginning with a song, reading, or open discussion.
This food that is offered doesn’t come out of nowhere; Caleb Deiro, a Soul Food mentor and pastor at the Sierra Bible Church, said that “most of the people donating, for the food, are at Sierra Bible Church,” and often the club gets support from local businesses, such as discounts on burritos from Golden Rotisserie and turkey wraps donated from Wagon Train Coffee Shop.
With these donations, the members of Soul Food welcome people of any faith or background to eat and engage in discussion.
Religion in relation to public schools has always been a controversial topic—in the past year, multiple schools have attempted to ban religious programs and clubs from using school facilities in places like California, Tennessee, and Massachusetts. On the other side of the argument, an elementary school in Massachusetts was investigated by its district in September for teachers “promoting an afterschool Bible club to students.”
Religious organizations are just as legal as nonreligious organizations at schools, though; according to the US Department of Education, “Students may organize religious clubs to the same extent they are permitted to organize nonreligious clubs.”
Students are still protected from pressure from teachers and staff to engage in religious groups. “Students may not be coerced by school employees to participate or not participate in student-led noncurricular religious groups on the basis of the groups’ religious or nonreligious character or perspective,” continues the US Department of Education.
Pressuring or coercing students is not the purpose of Soul Food. In fact, Deiro says “Students are just hungry, and if I can also offer some encouragement along with a burrito: great.” Soul Food’s leaders are happy to provide some nourishment for students that may be stressed from the school day, not to “lecture” them on Christianity.
Still, they want to help students feel more comfortable to engage in faith or Christianity if it is something they are interested in. Ty Hammond, the president of Soul Food and a Junior at Truckee High, calls the club “a doorway to Christianity,” meaning they provide opportunities to the members, but the communities of Soul Food and the associated churches are separate. Not all students that go to Soul Food are also involved in church, and vice versa.
A welcoming environment is something they are working on. Soul food has been around for many years—just two years ago it was called “Christian Crossroads,” and the format was more similar to a lecture than the group discussions Soul Food hosts now.
Lectures are exactly what they are trying to avoid after the rebrand. “You’re sitting in school all day, you’re getting lectured by teachers. So we’re trying to figure out new ways around that,” says Hammond.
Now, the organization of Soul Food meetings can change week by week. Between guest singers, reading passages, splitting into small groups, and members sharing their stories, there is a variety within their meetings, and combined with free food, they can bring over 50 students to some meetings.
