Sutton Caba-Bodie ’24
EE Staff Writer
There’s a new club here at Trumbull High! You may have seen it at the club fair earlier this school year.
It’s the Detective Club, created by junior Yanxi Zhang, a creative, passionate, and kind student. It’s advised by Mrs. Ellis, who has greatly contributed to the club.
So how does it work?
When interviewing Yanxi, she explained how the activities of the club are split into two sections, coordinating with the two semesters of the school year. For the first semester, each club meeting, which occurs once a month on Mondays at C22, revolves around one short story, typically a murder or crime. The goal is to solve the mystery by the end of the club meeting, which like most clubs, lasts about 40-45 minutes.
However, for the second semester, it kicks up a notch. Instead of separate short stories, the club meetings follow a particular mystery chosen by Yanxi.
Committed to creating a memorable and clever experience for all, she translates Chinese language mysteries and creates a script that she will share with club members. Tensions build every meeting, as members begin to discover more and more about this selected story, and about their characters. Yanxi says that one of her favorite memories from this club was the final meeting from last year, when the longer story reached its end and all the club members voted for who they thought the true murderer was.
When asking Yanxi about why she created this club, her inspirations, future goals for it, she first explained how her love for mystery, bringing justice, and seeking truth began when she was a middle schooler. She had taken a psychology class and it sparked an interest in studying and discovering just how our brains work and why we do what we do.
Secondly, she takes inspiration from many places, but mainly from well-known and talented Japanese author, Keigo Higashino. He writes mainly mystery novels, and has won several awards and has had almost 20 turned into films.
As for the future goals for the club- Mrs. Ellis and Yanxi’s minds stay focused on possible leaders for when Yanxi graduates in 2024.
When asked what she wanted to say most- she expressed gratitude towards Mrs. Ellis and said “A big, big thank you to Mrs. Ellis for being our advisor, she’s done a lot for us”.
This club provides a truly unique, creative, and witty experience and atmosphere. The concept, dedication, and passion of this club is truly inspiring and it will be excited to see what they do next.