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As a discussion in a Catoctin High School classroom dissolved into teenage chatter on a recent weekday, a small gong rang loudly.

"I don't mean to be mean, but I really need you guys to pay attention," said Lynly Meunier, gong ringer and president of the newly formed Catoctin High School Leo Club.

The club, whose name stands for Leadership. Opportunity. Experience., is sponsored and overseen by the Thurmont Lions Club and was officially established on the 80th birthday of the Lions Club in October.

Lions donated the gong, a gavel, a Leo Club banner and a small, stuffed lion mascot to the group at its formation and each sat at the front of the classroom, indicating to about 20 students in attendance that the meeting was in session.

Lynly is one of 17 charter members. And as the club embarks on its first year, she said she is glad that things got off the ground in time for the holiday season. The group's first major fundraiser is a cookie dough and pizza sale, the proceeds of which will go toward "adopting" a family from Hope Alive in Sabillasville for the Christmas holiday.

Hope Alive is a nonprofit ministry that serves as a transitional home for homeless women and children. The money the club raises will most likely provide Christmas gifts for a small family living there, according to Sue Oehmig, executive director of the ministry.

Lynly said she feels good about the fundraiser "because I have had a pretty ... easy life so far and I know that there are people out there who are so worse off than I am."

She also recognizes that this year is a "building year" for the club. That's why after club advisor Robin Keeny announced that fundraising forms would be available at the front office later in the week, discussion turned to other fundraisers the Leos could organize in the coming months.

Among the suggested ideas were Valentine's Day "candygrams" at the school and morning doughnut sales in the hallway. Meunier hopes one of those fundraisers will be organized and completed before the next outside-of-school fundraiser, a spring carwash being organized with help from Keeny.

George Bolling, president of the Thurmont Lions Club, said sponsoring Leo Clubs in the surrounding community has been a longstanding Lions Club International tradition that he is glad to see continued through Thurmont Middle School, where a club was established last year, and Catoctin High School.

"I'm very proud of the way they've come along," he said of the high school Leos. "We look forward to doing some activities that the middle school kids can't because of their age. We think that our high school Leos will be able to operate more independently because of their maturity and do projects that younger kids can't do."

Keeny said the clubs teach responsibility.

"It gives [students] self confidence and it also gives them the opportunity to see there are people out there who are less fortunate," Keeny said. "I think this is a start for them for the future."

Lynly, one of many Catoctin High School Leo Club members who have family in the Thurmont Lions Club, said she is glad to carry on the tradition through the Leos but also hopes to one day be a part of the Lions Club.

"It's just so rewarding to go out and, like, actually be able to help people," she said. "It's so amazing to me."

She admits that when she was first approached about running for president of the Leo Club, her first thought was, "President of a club, that will look amazing on a college transcript!

"But it turned into so much more," she added.

E-mail Courtney Pomeroy at cpomeroy@gazette.net.