By Jayla Toliver –
Do you want to be more involved in clubs, but can’t because you have responsibilities outside of school? Club Day at Lincoln High allows you to participate in clubs during the school day! Students are allowed to choose 2 of the more than 40 clubs available. There’s truly something for everyone. There are academic clubs, athletic clubs,a variety of caucus clubs, and many more.
Club Day is held once a month, during the school day.
“Because all students are here, all students can be involved. A lot of our students have jobs or are athletes, it gives them an opportunity for them to be involved in a different way,” Jill Able, the Associate Principal here at Lincoln High, said.
If a student wants to sign up for a club after the online sign-up has passed, they must contact the sponsor of the club they’d like to join so they can be added to the list of students participating in that club. On Club Day, 2nd period teachers will give students a pass, that way they can attend their chosen clubs during the assigned periods. Students are always counted absent for the class they miss, but they are marked present for the club, therefore the office knows they weren’t skipping class. However if they do not attend the club or their class they will be counted truant in both, which will be followed by some sort of consequence . But, if they actually attend the club and decide it doesn’t suit them, they may drop it and simply join another by contacting the club sponsor.
“If they [students] are doing it to get out of class, I think they quickly realize that it isn’t any more fun than going to class.” Able said.
If you are interested in starting a club, the process is rather simple. All you have to do is contact the Able either during the summer, before school ends, or before second semester begins and explain the club to her. Able explained the process of starting a club. First, she’ll give you a form to fill out and you’ll have to find a club sponsor as well. Then once you fill out the form, find a sponsor, then select the period you’d like the club to be. You turn everything into her, she’ll look it over and either approve or disapprove of the club then, you’re all set for the next Club Day.
But there is one thing stopping you from enjoying this day that is meant for fun. Since there are so many clubs available, the Lincoln High staff is worried that students will bite off more than they can chew, get involved in too many clubs, and stop enjoying something that should be fun. Because of that you are only allowed to choose two clubs to participate in at a time. “I don’t agree with the fact that we can only join two clubs at a time. I was interested in joining the International Club, JV College Club, and the Photography Club, but I was having a hard time deciding which two clubs of the three I wanted to do. So I ended up not participating in any clubs at all, which is very unfortunate,” Iman Naser, a ninth grader here at Lincoln High, said.
Only being able to choose two clubs is, in a way very ironic. If Club Day is during the day so students can be more involved, then why put limitations on how involved a student can be. The only way around that rule is to join new clubs for each Club Day, which can be a very lengthy and time consuming process.
“I like to give kids an extra opportunity to connect to something they enjoy,” Marissa Wanamaker, sponsor of the International club, said.
In the end Club Day is all about being engaged in school and in the community. All students are strongly encouraged to try out a few clubs and see what their interests are. Why not take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to learn more about the things you’re interested in?
