Nerds find strength in numbers with after-school program

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- With his Warhammer 40,000 rule book nearby, Robert Jones and his Tau soldiers severely weakened Josh Atchley's Space Marines squadron with just one roll of the dice. Luckily for Josh, he was able to join forces with the Tyranids and exact some revenge during their tabletop, battle-style role-playing game.

The game between the five players ended in a tie as the one-hour limit on Nerd Club was over.

"He turned his back on me," Josh said. "I couldn't believe it. I got him back, though."

The Warhammer interest group was just one of many that form during a typical Friday for the Springfield Central High School Nerd Club.

Every week after a 10-minute business meeting, the 70-plus nerds break up into dozens of interest groups.

While they unite for a common cause, the Nerd Club is too quirky for one groupwide activity. They make plenty of room for the Magic the Gathering group, the Duck Tape group and the gothic Chain Mail group, among others.

"It's a place where you can come and be your nerdy self," said Emma Wilson, Nerd Club vice president. "If we didn't have this, I wouldn't be surrounded by people who are like me."

Most of them claim they have little to no social standing within the school, but they are showing their strength in numbers. Now 4 years old, the Nerd Club's membership is higher than ever.

Current nerds said their haven wouldn't exist without their nerd leader, class sponsor Kris Wiley.

"If it wasn't for Mr. Wiley, we wouldn't have Nerd Club. He has given us a chance and a place to be ourselves," said Andrew Pratt, Nerd Club president.

Tired of worrying

While the club is a high school organization, Wiley has cashed in on the Middle Years Scholar Program at Central, a gifted program for middle school students.

He is one of a handful of Middle Years teachers and said probably 40 of the members come from the program.

"These kids are tired of worrying whether or not they are nerds," Wiley said.

"It's for the kid who doesn't fit into any other groups. ... We'll have kids who are good at science, but don't feel like being in the science club because they don't want to be doing science after school."

Hayden Pensar, 12, is editor of the Nerd Gazette, a biweekly newsletter for Nerd Club. It includes stories submitted by the five-person staff as well as ads for other interest groups.

"It's my way to talk to Nerd Club. I feel this is a universal group, a place where people can go and be themselves," he said.

The group has T-shirts, hoodies and a constitution. Members are involved in fund raisers and are planning to get involved with the Relay for Life for the first time.

They are also listed on Central's Web site as a school club.

"They're great. At first we weren't for sure about the name, but they have embraced it. It's a great club," said Central principal Everett Isaacs.

In the midst of the hour of unbridled nerdiness, Kat Bennicoff-Yundt and Breanna Angle, officers of the Duck Tape group, were making duct tape roses. All Duck Tapers are sixth-grade girls.

Card-carrying members of the group have turned school-project Web sites into how-to information on duct-tape creations.

Some of their prized products: A vest, a purse and earrings.

"We proudly sport the title nerd," said Brittany Donnellan, 11.

As for being labeled nerds, Jon Mathis said it's all about self-confidence.

"We've turned it around on everyone else [who called us nerds]," said Mathis, 17, a junior in his first year of Nerd Club. "Now we all wear it with pride."