Amidst the bustling Northwood campus, Room 1323 remains dark during lunch. For the next 35 minutes, the classroom transforms into a secret cave nearby Welton Academy as members of the Dead Poets Society Club gather together.
The DPS Club, founded by president senior Ellie Guo last year, is a gathering of writers who analyze all sorts of media and content, ranging from actual poetry to tweets from Twitter. Inspired by the coming of age movie “Dead Poets Society,” the club mimics the characters’ discussions of interesting patterns and motifs in life through poetry.
“Poetry is a really amazing outlet for emotions that I did not realize was accessible to me for a long time,” treasurer senior Sailor Kensrue said. “I thought I wasn’t smart enough to understand poetry, but I realized that it’s really all about seeing the beauty in everything around us.”
Meetings are loosely structured, focusing on discussion and community building with activities ranging from movie analysis to casual discussions. According to Guo, most of the club presentations are unscripted without any pressure to do anything but listen.
The club is heavily influenced by the “Dead Poets Society” film’s exploration of individuality, social conformity and the transformative power of literature and art. The movie tells the story of an English teacher’s profound influence on his class of boys at an elite conservative school to be courageous freethinkers. After forming a secret society, the boys meet to recite poetry and discuss life, love and beauty, embodying the “carpe diem” philosophy of living boldly and authentically.
Similarly, the Northwood DPS club members can choose to present about any piece that holds poetic merit during the meetings. Taking inspiration from the film’s pure appreciation of poetry, Guo begins each club meeting with an excerpt from Henry David Thoreau’s memoir “Walden.”
“DPS is a platform to express the themes you see in life,” Guo said. “There’s no restrictions on what you can present. It’s just a place to share something interesting you found in word.”
While the club is open to all students, DPS uses their social media to replicate the secrecy of the original Dead Poets Society in the movie through posts depicting only a location and movie reference on crumpled paper.
Keeping up its title as a secret society, DPS also has its own share of fun traditions. Senior Charlie Parris keeps a DPS Bingo to track the different topics covered at every meeting to avoid repeating topics.
Additionally, members can be heard saying “O captain, my captain” if they really like something that was brought up, in reference to the ending of the DPS movie. To enforce an element of secrecy, many of the meetings are held with lights off in the room.
“I’ve found a really good community of creatives who I can share my interpretations with while eating lunch,” senior Isaiah Walker said. “Dead Poets Society is a club for people who like to look at the poetic side of life, and people who have those creative minds.”
Dead Poets Society hosts their secret meetings on biweekly Fridays during lunch in Room 1323. Receive meeting reminders and more on Instagram @dps.at.nhs.
