Here at Meridian, clubs have been a vital part of the school environment covering all kinds of topics and hobbies that students may enjoy. One of them being the DND club, which is short for the Dungeons and Dragons club, a club all about the hit role-playing game developed by Wizards of the Coast.
#1: The Creation of DND.
To understand the contributions of DND Club, we must first understand how DND itself was created in the first place, which takes us all the way back to the 1970’s. In the year 1974, the iconic RPG was created by American game designers Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson, under the latter’s company Tactical Studies Rules, before being later acquired by Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast in 1997.
“Its creation brought about the DND club, which also gave rise to other game related clubs, making a change where not all clubs have to be academic.” said Special Ed. teacher Mrs. SB.
According to Britannica.com, the game’s soaring popularity would eventually result in the creation of tons of merchandise, including minifigures, books, movies, and even TV shows, all themed around the world of Dungeons and Dragons. The game would go through multiple iterations and editions, each version changing the rules and adding new features to make the experience even more enjoyable.
#2: The Introduction of DND to Schools.
Given DND’s reputation as an extremely popular board game, it may seem confusing as to how education driven facilities like schools would allow something like that to be done on their premises. Simple, many young fans who were introduced to the game by friends of theirs from out of school campaigns, as well as teachers and parents who saw the educational value of the game,decided to adopt it into the school system.
“DND is a collective writing activity, so by being able to make dramatic plotlines, we improve our writing capabilities,” said club founder Cole Fitzgerald.
According to Medium.com, children can learn a lot from playing the game, as they are learning all the while. Though it might be hard to see at first, once you do some digging, the appeal of DND to young kids becomes pretty clear.
#3: The Contribution of DND Club to the School Environment.
Many schools allow their students to host DND clubs, and Meridian World School is no different, with the club being hosted every Tuesday after school from 4:05 PM to 5:30 PM. When it comes to the club itself, it allows for plenty of recreational time for the students that are a part of it.
“I think that the problem solving and social skills that DND teaches are a very good contribution to a school’s learning environment.” said 12th grade math teacher Mr. Barnes.
According to dandmadeeasy.com, DND allows for the kids taking part in it to develop proper social skills, problem solving, and creativity, thanks to the open-ended nature of the game’s character creation.
DND Club has a lot more benefits than people often realize, though that’s mainly because it takes more than just a simple quick glance to be able to see those said benefits. If we choose to look deeper though, then we can see just how much DND has to offer kids in school, and how much it can make the school environment all the more.
If you have a chance, pick up some dice and sign up for the club, because if you keep an open mind, the other club members will be glad to have you with them.
