STOP club stands for supporting survivors through outreach and prevention, and, starting formally in 2020, is a fairly new club at Central Kitsap High School. 

“[It] is an opportunity to reach out to victims of sexual assault or sexual violence as well as raise awareness around that subject,” said Jennifer Rumpke, co-advisor of the club . 

STOP club tries to cater to the whole student body to promote healthy boundaries and relationships. While also becoming a space to talk about how to make conversations about subjects regarding sexual assault and sexual violence that previously were uncomfortable to talk about, especially in the school setting. 

“I think the best thing to do for any sort of student is to believe what they’re saying,” said Erik Randall, the other co-advisor of STOP club. “And to take it serious, and make sure that you create a place where they feel safe.”

The idea of creating a community where students are not afraid to ask questions and are not afraid to stand up against sexual assault for not only themselves but for others is a start to creating a more progressive school environment. 

“The part about advocacy and supporting survivors is, sort of tantamount to the reason for the club existing,” Randall said. “ And one of the things… I also think is important is just general awareness that behaviors and things of that nature [are] not okay.” 

The members of STOP club work very hard to get their message out to the whole student body. Utilizing times like advisory to start the conversation and to keep it going. The members have organized meetings where anyone can speak up and contribute to the conversation.

“They are an amazing group of very strong, very confident and empowered, young people, and I think as teachers, that’s one of the greatest things that we can say,” said Rumpke. 

However STOP club isn’t satisfied yet and they want to reach out to new students to provide their own insight and help carry the club forward. 

“I know that there’s some fantastic people, young students in all grades and I’d really like to see them step up and I think there’s some promising young people who are in this meeting today,” said Randall. 

Randall and Rumpke not only have hopes for this club inside Central Kitsap High School but also have hopes for other schools in the district and in the community as a whole.

“Yeah, it would be nice if we can see similar clubs at Olympic and at Klahowya because we’re not alone,” said Rumpke.