by Lexi Rosas | editor-in-chief

Prior to the start of classes in the fall, a group of 10 students meet to plan for a year of service, fun…and faith. They are called Jags for Jesus and they work to create a comfortable and consistent outlet for Christian students. With constructive lessons, orange leaf socials and occasional service projects, this club offers Christian jags an comfortable and fun haven at school.

“As a Christian and having three kids go through Johnson, I think that it’s important for them [students] to reach out to friends and to have them spend some spiritual time, weekly, with their classmates….They get to know what teachers are Christian, so they get that help and that connection,” parent sponsor Mary Winterrowd said.

This group meets every Wednesday before school in the MPR room and occasionally brings in a guest speaker.

“We try to get guest speakers maybe once or twice a month. A lot of times they’re just youth pastors from the kid’s churches,” senior leader Hunter Hansen said.

With all of this activity and with the prominence of the club for jags of the Christian faith, one would think that this organization was a permanent club at JHS, but in actuality this group is classified as a “Limited Open Forum,” according to the Texas Administration of School Boards(TABS), meaning that this group may use school facilities on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis as long as the group is run by an adult sponsor and attended by students.

This group must also keep advertisements and promotion off of posters and simulcast and to a more personal level: social media( the group has a  Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), good ol’ conversation, and on their t-shirts.

“The only way that we communicate is by word of mouth or social media…We weren’t in the yearbook, but they added us to the clubs and organizations page on the website recently” Winterrowd said.

Though this group has maintained a steady group of followers in the past years, a wider range of promotion could encourage that growth that many organizations strive for.

“ It [the group] was really big my freshman year-the biggest I’ve seen it- it’s stayed the same or maybe it’s gotten a little bit smaller…I guess if we we’re allowed to promote at school, spread the word more, it would grow more,” Hansen said.

Though this group is not an endorsed by the school, it maintains the rules and regulations of any official club at Johnson.

“I keep a good rapport with administration. We get t-shirts approved so that they know what’s going on…We aren’t accountable to them for anything, but we like to keep a good relationship and we don’t overstep our boundaries,” Winterrowd said.

This group has had to work a little harder to stay afloat, but ultimately, it has proven to be a benefit to Johnson.

“I’ve had students tell me that they grow in spirit and as a whole…They’re [the students] going to have good attitudes and good days and I think that the administration knows that.”