43
Star Wars Club force to be reckoned with
Photo
Tyler Stratton (left) is one of the founders of the Star Wars club, and lead his group as each person follows their character in a role-playing game.
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor . During Canfield Village Middle School's Jan. 14 meeting of Star Wars Club, adviser David Izzo jokingly said that Raquel Markolia (center) is a "rose among the thorns," being the only girl in the club.
Photo
The club's other co-founder Jacob Tomory (center, with glasses) showed off his game members and their imaginary lightsabers as well.
By SARAH FOOR
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...
Actually, the date was Jan. 14 and the location was teacher David Izzo’s technology room, where 20 middle school students gathered for the January meeting of Star Wars Club.
The club, started last December by middle school students Tyler Stratton and Jacob Tomory, gathers 20 to 40 members every other week to take part in a role-playing Star Wars game. Every person plays a character who gains a story and skills as the game progresses.
“Do I know the rules of these complicated games? Well, no. But, I’m just glad to see them having so much fun with it,” said Izzo, the club’s adviser.
While Izzo is a big fan of this club, he also manages to keep a deep, dark secret.
“I was always a Star Trek fan more than a Star Wars.”
Tomory started the club after playing the role-playing game for many years with Stratton.
“The game is fun and it allows a lot of people to play. When we started, I think more people came because they like ‘Star Wars’ more than the game, but we’ve settled into the real players now.”
Although many were novices at the role-playing aspect of the game, Stratton thinks members had more Star Wars knowledge than he expected.
“I was really impressed at how much the new members knew about characters and species in the Star Wars world. It really helps when we play,” he explained.
Tomory believes the club is a hit with his peers and looks for it to continue.
“I hope we can start again next year. This year is going really well.”