An after-school club connected to the Satanic Temple is looking to expand to high schools, and the club’s campaign director said it has “big plans” for next school year.
The clubs, which are associated with the Satanic Temple, started in 2020 and caught the attention of parents seeking an alternative to religious clubs, according to June Everett, the campaign director for the club. Everett claimed the club is considering teaching some of the Satanic Temple’s seven core tenets in the clubs, as well as expanding its clubs to high schools, according to the Hill.
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“We have a lot of big plans for next school year,” Everett said.
The problem the club faces is that unlike in primary schools, in which clubs are largely run by adults, students at high schools must be more actively engaged in the club to keep it running.
However, Everett stated that a new partnership between the club and the nonprofit group Secular Student Alliance could help expand the club’s availability to other schools, including high schools. The Secular Student Alliance states on its website that it is the only national organization dedicated to atheist, humanist, and other nontheist students.
“[Secular Student Alliance’s] specialty is really college level and high school kids. So with their partnership, we hope to use them to help us get into more high schools and colleges,” Everett said.
Kevin Bolling, the executive director of the Secular Student Alliance, told the Washington Examiner that the nonprofit has been working with nonreligious students for over two decades. Additionally, the nonprofit “has a long history” of supporting secular students with student-run clubs at schools and campuses.
“The Secular Student Alliance and The Satanic Temple share similar values: the freedom of and from religion, state/church separation, community service to better your community, diversity and inclusion, compassion and empathy, scientific inquiry and reason, and supporting our democratic, pluralistic society,” Bolling said.
“The Secular Student Alliance recently partnered to provide student-focused curriculum, free educational resources, and fun stickers and other promotional supplies for the students. While ASSC in the elementary school setting leans more toward adult-led clubs, SSA is intentionally focusing on assisting with resources to enhance the experience for students.”
The After School Satan Club’s possible expansion comes after the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of the Satanic Temple and the American Civil Liberties Union, which had sued the Saucon Valley School District after it refused to allow the club to meet on its grounds.
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On the After School Satan Club’s website, it states that the clubs are operated by the Satanic Temple and that the clubs incorporate games, projects, and thinking exercises that help children understand how the clubs know what they know about the world and the universe.
“ASSC exists to provide a safe and inclusive alternative to the religious clubs that use threats of eternal damnation to convert school children to their belief system,” the website continues. “Unlike our counterparts, who publicly measure their success in young children’s ‘professions of faith,’ the After School Satan Club program focuses on science, critical thinking, creative arts, and good works for the community.”
