At 883 feet long and 92 feet wide, the Titanic was an engineering wonder at the turn of the century. The ship contained an immense floor plan that amazed passengers. With high standards of dining, the voyage was one of exclusivity. On the tragic day that it sank, it carried over 2,000 passengers, each with their own story. These aspects of the Titanic are ones of interest to Titanic Club members and their club leader.
For both the Titanic club leader Greg Spangler and club member senior Liz Rankin (12), their love of the Titanic began in second grade. Spangler’s fascination began when he saw it in a Boy’s Life magazine during Cub Scouts.
This led him to watch many videos, which eventually made their way into his classroom after he became a teacher. When his students began to show interest in the videos he shared on the Titanic during class time, the idea for the club sprouted. Ordinarily, students are the ones who bring club ideas to staff, so he had no clue if the club would collect a lot of members.
Quickly after the club day sign up was posted, the club met its max capacity of 25 students. In total, Spangler had 42 students sign up, though the students who signed up after the max were put on a waitlist.
“I am really excited for the opportunity. I’m really thankful that admin gave the go ahead and I’m really thankful that students were interested. So I’ve been pleasantly surprised and I’m really excited to see where it takes us,” Spangler said.
For Rankin, the large club sign up was less of a surprise. She knew the club would fill up partially because of Spangler’s popularity. Though she expected a lot of students, as she walked into the room on the first club day, the amount of students crowded into the room was “jarring”. She herself joined the club because the topic of the Titanic is specific, unique and something she already enjoys learning about.
Though seeing all the people in the club was a bit of a shock, she is glad that the club has gotten so many interested people.
“The more the merrier, right? It doesn’t really matter how you got there,” Rankin said. “It matters that you showed up.”
During that first meeting, Rankin especially enjoyed being able to sit down and absorb facts. The club watched a video about the basics of the Titanic’s architecture and the club members introduced themselves and their purpose in joining. Spangler had the students say what they wanted to do because when starting the club, he didn’t have a certain direction he foresaw the club going in.
Spangler planned to let the students guide the direction of the club and to “[put] the feelers out and [see] what we’re going to do”.
“I am going to start very minimally because again, this is brand new and [I’m] kind of going into it just to see what happens. My greatest hope for the year is just to have that space where we can have great conversation about this thing that we all love,” Spangler said.
One rule that he has for the club is that the club talks appropriately about the Titanic because it was a real tragedy that affected many.
“My one expectation is that students do take it seriously, that we’re not sitting there joking or treating it as pure entertainment. That it is a subject that is serious and fascinating in that seriousness. But having that expectation of what do we do with a subject like this and treating it with respect and dignity?”
When Rankin first heard of the club, she had a concern which was similar.
“At first, I was a little skeptical, mainly because it is an event that a lot of people died in. And so I was concerned that it may be not necessarily taking that into consideration when we’re talking about it, because it was a really horrible thing that happened. But now that I’ve been there, I know that that’s not at all what it is.”
Now that she understands what the club will look like in future meetings, she has new hopes for what she learns. She wishes to learn more about the architecture of the ship and its sister ships and in general, she hopes for more discussions.
Though neither Rankin nor Spangler are absolutely sure which directions the club will go in, both are excited for the opportunity to pass time talking about something they enjoy. Spangler is especially excited to see his students reciprocate his feelings towards the Titanic.
“I hope that students are able to bring that similar kind of zest for the story to club and just kind of see what happens with that enthusiasm.”
His aspirations for the club and those of his club members will steer the way the club goes but he is also open to exploring new opportunities with the meetings.
“Depending on what kind of adventures we can have here in landlocked Nebraska, we’ll find out.”
