A world arm wrestling champion, a Chinese acupuncturist and a buddhist monk walk into a room… This may sound like the beginning to a bad joke but what I am referring to is New Trier’s zaniest club of all,  Out-of-the-Box Club.

Started roughly 15 years ago by a group of students and their teacher sponsor Tim Kajfez, Out-of-the-Box club invites speakers from all corners of the work world to expand students knowledge of lesser known professions.

Out-of-the-Box club “promotes creative thinking, [it] exposes kids to alternative points-of-view to get them to reflect on themselves,” said Kajfez.  “[You] learn a lot about yourself when you hear some of these people speak.”

“Out-of-the-Box club is hands down the most under-rated thing at New Trier” said junior Robert Kennedy, one of the clubs leaders.

Although the groups vary from year-year the result is the sam: everybody loves Out-of-the-Box club.

“Every group is different, bring[ing] new learning capabilities every year, pushing all of us to think in new ways and that can be exciting,” added Kajfez.

“People should know that Out-of-the-Box Club is probably the most unique club that New Trier has to offer. When you go to Out-of-the-Box club you can discover things that you never even knew existed. That is why it’s such a beautiful thing. I can personally say that some of my fondest memories at New Trier have come from out-of-the-box club,” added Kennedy.

Some notable past guests in Out-of-the-Box club include a Chinese acupuncturist, a buddhist monk, a hypnotist, a paleontologist, tango dancing instructors, an MMA fighter and members of the Ultimate Arm-wrestling League.

“When we had the arm wrestlers come in, I went up against world champion Richard Lupkus who is by far the largest man I have ever seen in my entire life,” said Kennedy.  “I used my full force to try and take him down, but it was like arm wrestling a rock wall. He didn’t even break a sweat.”

Kennedy added, “At first I thought that the professional arm wrestlers were just going to be a bunch of college students who competed in their free time to make a couple of extra bucks. But no, these guys were legit, and like every Out-of-the-Box Club experience I’ve had, I learned that there was a lot more to it than I could imagine.”

Experiences like this have kept club members intrigued and created an environment at New Trier that is open to anything and everything.

“The goal of Out-of-the-Box club is to open the minds of New Trier students to all of the cool and unique things in the world around us. That is why we bring in such a wide variety of speakers,” said Kennedy.  “The world is full of really cool things, and Out-of-the-Box Club is there to show them to you.”