By Eric Wilson-Edge
For some unknown reason I associate high school with the heavy thunk-thunk sound from Law & Order. I remember feeling awkward and out of place. I grew up in a military family which meant I changed schools on a regular basis. I didn’t have deep roots like so many of my peers. I spent most of my freshman year by myself. It wasn’t until the end of my first year that I found friends. These connections meant everything to me. I could go to school without feeling afraid or alone because I knew I belonged.
And I’m lucky. I was born with certain privileges. I’m a white, middle class, heterosexual male. I was then and am now. High school was difficult for me but, by comparison, relatively easy.
Lynn Grotsky isn’t one to shy away from a problem. So when the clinical social worker first heard about a rash of suicides she knew something had to be done. “Four different kids killed themselves in a year. Most were either gay or suspected to be LGBTQ,” says Grotsky.
Grotsky, who has been with her partner for 34 years, had a son in high school at the time. He came out during his freshman year and even though he lived in a supportive environment he became suicidal. Grotsky approached the administration at North Thurston Public Schools with an idea to help students who identified as LGBTQ.
Pizza Klatch started in 2007 as an after school group. “We were going for a few months then two different families found out their kids were going and sent them away to ‘straighten them out,’” says Grotsky. Grostky and her small cadre of volunteers quickly reorganized. They convinced both North Thurston High School and Timberline High School to let the organization operate a lunch time group.
Klatch is a Yiddish word meaning to schmooze or to connect. “We wanted a name that wasn’t obvious LGBTQ,” says Grotsky. Seven years later Pizza Klatch serves 250 students every week in 16 groups across nine local high schools.
The idea is simple. Students show up during their lunch break for some pizza and conversation. Two trained facilitators are on hand to answer questions or provide help if needed. “We usually start by doing a round of check-ins,” says Pizza Klatch Facilitator Lucas Miller. “They tell us whatever name they want to use in that space, whatever gender pronoun they want to use and usually a high point and a low point of the week,” says Miller.
More than 700 students have participated in Pizza Klatch since its inception. Of that number there have been no suicides and fewer numbers of LBGTQ kids report trying to harm themselves. Says Grotsky, “LGBTQ kids miss more school and have lower graduation rates. Most of our kids say they come to school more often because of Pizza Klatch. It gives them a reason to come to school.”
Pizza Klatch succeeds because it helps students form relationships with each other. The organization also recognizes and embraces the fluid nature of being a teenager. “High school is for exploring your issues of identity,” says Miller. “We try to make a safe space for different ways of expressing, different ways of identifying.”
As Pizza Klatch has grown, so too has its audience. The group encourages allies to participate. A precise definition of ally is hard to nail down but generally consists of anyone who wants to support members of the LGBTQ community.
Pizza Klatch boasts more than 40 active volunteers. Most are from other organizations like the Crisis Clinic or Planned Parenthood. This collaborative effort makes access to information and services easier. The group often has lecturers on a range of topics from sexual health to overcoming addiction.
The organization is doing so well that it recently hired its first paid staff member. Jessica McKimmie is Pizza Klatch’s Executive Director. She’s been in the position since April. “I’m impressed daily by the support of the community and our peers,” says McKimmie.
On September 6, Pizza Klatch will hold a fundraiser at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. The event will include a live auction, food and music from “The Voice” contestant Vicci Martinez. “It’s time for our community to get together around this cause, show support and also celebrate how far we’ve come over the past seven years,” says McKimmie.
Tickets to the fundraiser start at $15. The VIP reception begins at 5:30 pm. You can find a complete list of activities by clicking on the link.
