Cru Club is a group at Central where Christian students can come together after school and connect with their faith, but it can also be a place for them to connect with their fellow Christians.  

School can be lonely for a lot of teenagers, and it’s easy for students to feel out of place or as if they have nothing in common with their peers. Religion is a guide for many kids here at Central and across Omaha Public Schools, but it can also be point of connection for them to build community. The Cru Club has helped several Christian students come together with a community at their school that they might not have known about otherwise. It allows them to socialize as well as practice their religion together.  

Cru holds their meetings every Wednesday after school in room 225. There, they usually start with a game or an icebreaker, before moving onto discussions on lessons and passages from the Bible. Ben Leong, an outside advisor who runs the club, says that Cru has been very beneficial, not only to the young Christians who attend but to him as well.  

“We all come from pretty different backgrounds, and I just think it’s really cool that we get to come here and be united under the banner of our faith,” Leong said. “I feel like we have a good community.” 

The club is small, only bringing around six students to the average meeting. They manage to get word out about the club’s existence through fliers posted around the school, as well as word of mouth between students. Despite its size, members feel it is an environment where students can meet and connect over their shared values and experiences as Christians. The club’s sponsor, English Learner teacher Calyn Schnabel, echoed this sentiment.  

“I think it’s a good opportunity for students to get to know students of faith who otherwise would’ve been spread throughout their classes,” Schnabel said.  

Many students find comfort in their faith and use it as a source of guidance throughout day-to-day life. “Whenever I’ve had a hard week, this is a great place to come, besides Sunday Mass. I always can find other views on passages I’ve read before, and then I can find ways to see it differently when I hear it from other people,” club member and senior Lucas Wenburg said.  

Cru is also where Wenburg met and befriended a fellow senior, Hezekiah Stratford.  

“It’s a good place to make new friends and expand your inner circle,” Stratford said.