The English Society is a student organization in the University of Guam that focuses on promoting English through workshops and events.

Working alongside English professors, members are guided and gain experiences from them.

Samantha Frias, 22, a member of TES, said the club plans to have an English workshop next semester.

Frias said the workshops would be for high school students so they can improve their writing. She added that Artken Cada and Kayle Tydingco headed the workshops.

Cada and Tydingco stated that the workshops were still in the process. Tydingco added that they are first hosting a writing challenge to all Guam students from K-12th grade.

“There’s three age groups, elementary, middle and high school. Each grade level has their own prompt. They have different categories for how to write in response to the prompts,” Tydingco said.

TES will focus on points to cover from the writing challenge submissions for their upcoming workshops.

Tydingco added that TES plans to hold workshops for senior citizens by teaching them about creative writing. The senior citizens would write about their lives.

According to Ruby Palmes, 23, a recent TES member, the club conducted two bake sales in the month of November.

Kiersten Lim, 24, a member of TES added that they raised around $600 for the first bake sale.

The money raised will pay for the sashes of graduating seniors and other items such as banners and t-shirts.

“We talked about donating school supplies to schools,” Palmes said.  She added that they want to encourage students to read and write.

Lim talked about a meet-and-greet event the club held in the beginning of November. She mentioned that the event had games, free food, henna tattoos and face paint.

“We’re trying to recruit those undeclared students, especially sophomores and freshmen,” Lim said.

Being all English majors, Frias, Lim and Palmes heard of TES from their classmates.

Being a member of TES, Frias talked about the benefits of the club. She said that she got closer to other members and they hang out outside of school.

Frias said everyone always encourages others in the group.

“We help each other out, no matter what,” Frias said.

Lim added on by saying that she made friends when she joined the club. “We’re like a family,” she said.

Frias said she doesn’t see a drawback with joining the club. However, she said that a busy person would have trouble participating.

TES is catered for English majors, but the club is open for students of other majors to join.

The officers of TES are Zyra Sanchez, Christine Jackson and Artken Cada. They are all English majors. The advisor is Chris Garcia, Ph.D. who is an assistant professor of English.

Frias said members of the club are mostly seniors. She hopes more students join the club.

The club uses an Instagram account to post updates. “We keep people updated with our events, what’s going on with what we’re doing next,” Frias stated.

TES members can also earn sashes for graduation. Frias mentioned that members don’t pay for them, but earn them.

“You have to get 20 points to earn your sash,” Frias said.  The points can be earned through participating in meetings, bake sales and events.

Lim encourages students to join because there are no requirements in joining TES except for the membership fee of $5.