This year, Edina High School seniors Patrick Kiely and Abid Hasan started a club based on a novel idea: Legos. The Lego Club, advised by social studies teacher Claude Sigmund, frequently found lounging shoeless in his classroom, meets every Thursday after school. Students of all grades are welcome to join and encouraged to bring their own Lego sets to build with friends. “I wanted to create a club where [anyone] can find enjoyment, because some clubs are limited to only some sort of people or only some kind of activity that someone can do,” Kiely said.

Although Legos are largely marketed as a children’s toy, the members of EHS’s club use the building bricks to express their imagination and originality. “It’s an activity that many people enjoyed as a kid and [Lego Club] is a way to promote collaboration and work together to build sets,” Hasan said.

“It’s a really great time. [It’s] incredibly relaxing and nostalgic returning to such an important aspect of my childhood,” senior Maclain Everson-Rose said.

As Lego Club evolves and gets to know each other throughout the first few meetings, they have begun planning future activities. “We’ve started to get a good look at the crowd and how much people will really be invested in the club,” Kiely said. “This year, we’re thinking of doing a bunch of different projects that are much larger-scale and would require a lot more time and effort from the club members.”

Throughout the rest of their senior year, the club leaders hope to share their philosophy of embracing nostalgia with fellow high schoolers. “It really lets you explore your creative side, because you can build anything,” Kiely said.