Whether it has been the triumphs of the school’s athletic programs or the music, theater, and speech departments, there is no doubt that MN thrives in multiple activities.

A factor in this flourishing equation of success is community support, integral to the prosperity of these teams. In particular, one organization that has gone above and beyond, often behind the scenes, is the Mustang Booster Club.

First created in 2011 by past administration to provide annual memberships and fundraisers for extra-curricular activities, the club offers three levels of membership to support an activity of your choice.

“The Booster Club has paid for sound systems, turf fields, uniforms, AEDs and other requests, and MN student organizations and sports teams can request funds through the Mustang Booster Club website,”  MBC co-president Angie Frederick said.

With so many different ideas and necessities for the betterment of the school, the club is highly organized and has a motivated board of advisors ensuring their goals are met.

“We meet several times a month, usually on Wednesday nights, to discuss and try to find ways to get parents of all groups to get involved,” board member and activities Director Keith Maly said.

Due to the wide audience MBC manages to reach, the network has partnered with many different organizations to provide for activity needs.

“MBC has worked with several community businesses and partners to help raise dollars including Union Pizzeria, Swim Omaha, UBT, Spin Pizza and others,” A. and K. Frederick said.

By organizing events at these places, the club offers support while creating community bonding and strengthening activity engagement.

“[Recently], the Booster Club worked with Union Pizza to hold a watch party for the boys’ basketball game that was played in Illinois,” Maly said.

Events like these are largely appreciated by all activities, but one of the programs that the Booster Club has helped most tremendously has been the boys and girls soccer teams.

“[The club] is huge. Any time you get a bunch of parents and a bunch of supporters together, they can do so much to help, and any extra help we can get greatly impacts us,” head boys soccer coach Sandro DeAngelis said.

The extra resources the club can provide add to a list of motivation factors for students to participate in the activity.

“It’s enormous, not only for our program, but for every program… anytime we want to create something great it requires money and people. We are very lucky to have these resources in the MN community to create the memories students want to have,” DeAngelis said.

MBC doesn’t isn’t restriced to only activity funding. The organization provides essential equipment, and more for the general student population as well, offering a wide scope.

“They have purchased a new sound system for the auditorium. They organize the craft fair in the fall, and they find volunteers for After Prom,” Maly said.

But the club isn’t stopping here, it is looking to to continue helping students by filling in the gaps hindering student and family participation.

“Anyone can be a member of the Mustang Booster Club. We are working to grow annual membership and engage alumni and MN feeder middle schools. We also have volunteer opportunities which include fundraising and events,” MBC co-president Kurt Frederick said.

Before the pandemic, the club’s membership count was at a peak of 400 members, but the current membership count is at 120, due to COVID restrictions and hardships. Because of this, the club presidents encourage more people to join.

“We just need to continue to get the message out to people and attract more members because strength is in numbers,” Maly said.

As the club continues to grow, its efforts to improve MN will be even more impactful. The already growing community will be able to develop more connections and expand their voice to bring positive change into our school.