The extracurricular pond is getting overrun with small fish. At WS, students have the opportunity to be part of 85 extracurricular organizations, many of which are small, lesser known clubs. These organizations include the Political Activists Club, the Catholic Prayer Group, Girls’ Learn International and many more.
Despite all of these opportunities, students at WS have a hard time finding information about meeting dates and other details.
“I had to find information about (College Partnership) and how we have to get recommendations from other teachers,” said sophomore Eden Moges.
Moges struggled around the school, stopping at different offices, until she finally found information about College Partnership in the Career Center.
Club information was not easily accessible to Moges; this problem is not unusual at WS. Other students have similar difficulties with finding club specifics; they might not know who a club’s sponsor is, or even which clubs would best fit their personalities.
“Usually the students will have looked on the website [for club information] and the sponsor’s name is on there and they can contact the sponsor directly,” said Assistant Director of Activities Casey Grubbs. “Those who still haven’t figured that out, they might just come [to me] and say, ‘Hey I want to do this, what’s available to me?’ and I’ll guide them in the direction that they might be interested in.”
Some clubs spread their information through word of mouth, and many clubs try to use the morning announcements. However, the announcements aren’t always effective.
“Normally you can’t hear the announcements and the morning slideshows aren’t played in every room,” said senior Kaitlyn Vap. “So [I think] having acentralized place to go get the information would be helpful.”
That “centralized place” is currently in the process of going from an idea, to a reality.
“I’m in the process of creating a Google doc [with all of the clubs’ information] that will be posted on our website so students with their fcpsschools.net [email] can log on and view the Google doc,” said Grubbs. “And hopefully the plan is that the sponsors will update it regularly with when their meeting and all that good stuff.”
With this central hub of information in the making, small clubs will now have an outlet so that they will be able to grab more students’ attention. By gaining more interest, their members will be able to collaborate with lots of other students and develop into who they are meant to be.
“[Being in a club] allows [students] to pursue their own interests and grow as individuals,” said Jordan Moellendick, sponsor of the Creative Collaborations Club.