by Jack Snow
At 2:03 kids spill out into the hallways, leaving their desks behind for the promise of the leftover day. Many students have after-school activities, whether that be sports, tutoring, or clubs. Take a look around, though, and you’ll see that this isn’t the case for all students at Hudson High. Year after year we see the repeated pattern of students dismissing any involvement beyond the classroom; many students simply either head home or just hang around the school. Why can’t we bring students together? Why does the end of the day mean nothing more than a chance to just disconnect?
Our school faces a lack of involvement beyond the classroom, something that prevents the HHS community from thriving. To turn things around, changes must be made; the freedom students have to start up their own clubs must be made more clear in addition to our school doing a much better job of informing kids about after-school clubs, as well as advertising them.
Many argue that there are not even many options for after-school activities to begin with, which is true. Besides sports, arguably the most common extracurricular activity, HHS offers 12 clubs: BPA, Friday Night Frenzy, SADD, The Scribbler, Art Club, Drama Society, Gay/Straight Alliance, Ski Club, Anime Club, Environmental Club, Improv Comedy, and Spirit Committee.
Although these clubs may appeal to certain students, the lack of options limits possible outlets for the rest of the school. To see more involvement from the student body, students need to know that they have the opportunity to create their own clubs. In a recent survey, nearly 83% claimed that they had no idea that students could start their own clubs, nor how to actually do that. Many of these students even said that they would be interested in starting their own clubs, if the process weren’t too tedious and enthusiasm was good enough. Providing students with the ability to start their own clubs means an opportunity for kids to be a part of something beyond the classroom, a way for them to break off and seek their passions and hobbies. The students simply need to be more well-informed of their options.
There has also been a common pattern of students not even knowing about after-school programs. As new students at HHS, eighth graders Lucy Demartin and Tori Nelson never recall being informed about any clubs and groups our school offered. “We were never told about the after-school clubs, and we just never even thought to ask guidance about any either,” the two said. In the survey conducted with students, almost 70% of these students claimed that they were either poorly informed or not informed whatsoever about the clubs offered at our school.
Freshman Isabel Banks recently auditioned for our school’s Improv Club. Banks has always had an interest in acting and was thrilled when she got word of this group; however, the only way she heard about it was through a friend who was planning on auditioning. What if her friend had never told her about Improv Club? Banks may have never even known it was available to students at Hudson High. Information cannot just be spread through students; there must be a better way to spread word of clubs across a broader spectrum. How will students get involved if they have no idea that they can get involved? Our school must do a better job of informing students (especially new ones) about ways to take part in after-school activities. Currently, clubs are only mentioned through the morning announcements and a few flyers hanging around the school. Perhaps, this can be changed through guidance giving informative presentations to classes about ways to get involved. In addition to this, we can even just keep teachers up to date on the selection; if there’s anyone who knows the students best, it’s them. Either way, there is no excuse for students not being informed.
However, what has shown to be one of the biggest issues with our students is the fact that students know their options, but do not know enough about the clubs they’re interested in; what goes on, when the meetings are, who runs them, etc. Yes, many clubs advertise themselves through the morning announcements; but, for many, it can be hard to focus amongst the muffled chatter of their classmates or the work lying in front of them on their desks.
Many have called for a better way to inform the school of what HHS has to offer; freshman Zach Chaulk is just one of them. “The clubs need to make themselves and their meeting dates more well-known so that interested kids can join,” he says. One idea brought up by many of the surveyed students was to create a bulletin board listing every club and all of their information and put it up in a location where all would see, like by the main office or the stairs. Another idea mentioned was for the clubs themselves to take advantage of more fun opportunities, such as going on trips, working with other high schools, and simply making their experiences more interactive and memorable. With just some improvements made to the way they promote themselves, I think clubs would start to see a much better turnout from students.
In order for the after-school life at HHS to thrive, students must realize that they have the ability to establish their own groups, and the already existing groups must be advertised to students better.
Who knows? Maybe some day in the near future those hallways won’t be so rowdy after 2:03 strikes; maybe the students of Hudson High will start to become more involved members of the Hawk Community.
