The Satanic Temple’s After School Satan Club (ASSC) celebrated significant milestones this year in its mission to provide alternatives to proselytizing religious clubs in public schools.
In January, the first High School Satan Club launched in Kansas, significantly expanding the After School Satan Club into high schools and kicking off a partnership with the Secular Student Alliance. By November, a second High School Satan Club was established at Michigan City High School in Indiana, further solidifying ASSC’s presence at the high school level.
ASSC also achieved a major legal victory this year in partnership with the Freedom From Religion Foundation. A federal lawsuit against the Memphis Shelby County Board of Education in Cordova, Tennessee, successfully challenged discriminatory practices targeting our club at Chimneyrock Elementary School. The resulting $1 settlement affirmed the First Amendment rights of our clubgoers and their families and set a powerful precedent for other schools thinking of employing similar discriminatory practices against our clubs. As religious clubs spread in public schools, ASSC is poised to grow alongside them, offering inclusive alternatives wherever needed—perhaps at a school near you!
This year also brought growth to the Hellion Academy of Independent Learning (HAIL), our Release Time Religious Instruction (RTRI) program. New HAIL programs launched last month in Ohio and Tennessee, which provided students with engaging and creative activities that reflect the core values of this program. The legislative push in some states for RTRI policies in public schools is accelerating, opening the door for HAIL programs to reach even more communities in 2025.
