by Braden Rendano
Anime Club, Art Club, and SADD are just a few of the clubs offered at Hudson High. Students can perform an activity that they are passionate about and share their ideas among a group of people. Currently Hudson High only has 14 clubs, while schools such as Marlboro High, have 33. What is the reason for this?
As the chart above shows, Hudson has one of the smaller amounts of clubs compared to schools such as Algonquin Regional High School with 62 and Acton-Boxborough Regional High School with 32. Clubs can get kids involved and allow them more opportunities to make friends and open yourself to new ideas and hobbies.
Algonquin High has clubs such as the running club, video game club, a helping paw (where kids can volunteer at an animal shelter), and the Habitat for Humanity club. The helping paw and Habitat for Humanity clubs are unique as they are community service clubs. These clubs may make good additions.
Although there are flyers around, clubs may need to find other ways to advertise. “Let people know what’s available,” freshman Monica Anderson says. “I don’t really know what there is.”
In a survey conducted in a freshman English class, only 2 out of 20 students were involved in an afterschool club.
In terms of attendance at the school’s club meetings, about 15-20 students are usually present at Anime club, SADD typically has anywhere from 5-15, Drama usually has 40-50 students, and Friday Night Frenzy has around 10-15 people . As you can see from this data, the clubs we have are fairly popular, but the problem may be that we do not have enough programs that kids are interested in taking part in.
“I would like to see additional clubs with an academic focus including a competition math league, academic decathlon team, and perhaps a FIRST Robotics team,” Principal Brian Reagan says. “Additional clubs require additional funding, which is problematic.”
“I think that the few cool clubs we have are advertised well,” says junior Erin Farquharson. “More people need to get involved and share their ideas.”
Some clubs that were recommended by the student body this year in a survey are rock climbing club, chess club, fashion club,writing club, swim club, more art clubs, basketball club, rugby team, debate club, and a community service club.
“I think that Hudson High has lots of activities for students to get involved with,” says freshman Robert Cuddy. “But students do not want to step out and try something new. The school needs to find a way to make students feel comfortable.”
Clubs open students up to opportunities to become more skilled, learn how to be more professional, create new friendships, and prepare yourself for the future.
“These clubs are a way to channel your interests and find people who share those passions with you,” says Anime Club’s vice president. “It’s actually a really good way to make friends.”
Additional Student Suggestions:
- Incorporate things that Assabet has, such as woodshop, hair dressing etc.
- Create more clubs for more kids to interact with each other. Create more chance for people to make new friends.
- Expand the diversity of clubs available.
- Get more advertisements so students become involved.