Where can you sign up to learn to play chess, how to fish, how to make films, and for community service opportunities? The answer is the Hackley’s Club Fair.
On Monday, September 16th during lunch, tables were adorned with student-run clubs all throughout the quad. For the first forty-five minutes of the period, students could walk around, learn more about each club, and sign up if they so chose. Many clubs made elaborate posters and handed out candy or snacks to those who signed up. Clubs were organized into three categories: community building (centers around identity-based aspects of community members open to everyone), community passion (centers around a shared interest), and community engagement (service initiatives and organizations focused on action).
Since every club had a table to promote their club to fellow students, leaders had to plan in advance to make sure they could maximize their time and sign-ups. Senior Jack Magidson leads the Neighbors Link Community Service Group. Neighbors Link is an organization dedicated to integrating immigrants into Westchester’s community. Jack has been leading the club and volunteering with Neighbors Link since tenth grade. He teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults on Tuesdays, teaches piano, and volunteers to help children with schoolwork during the summer.
In order to plan for the fair, Jack went to the Neighbors Link facility in Mount Kisco. He spoke with the Volunteer Manager there to get materials for his table.
“They gave me this nice Neighbors Link table cover and some flyers I could hand out, and then I created a couple of posters that said Neighbors Link and then a couple of other flyers,” said Jack.
He made sure to provide information to students so they knew what specific opportunities were available to them through Neighbors Link.
Contrary to most tables, Jack had no candy at his table.
“I don’t want people signing up for my community service group because I have the best candy. I want them to actually be interested in the cause,” said Jack. Jack received 17 sign-ups, which he was happy with.
One of Jack’s goals is to encourage his members to constantly give back, given that Neighbors Link has weekly programs and centers in Mount Kisco, Ossining, and Yonkers.
“I could have people volunteering every week, whether it be English second language tutoring or computer programming, like helping people navigate technology. I just like to see people getting into the habit of working with Neighbors Link and making an effort to attend weekly or just as often as they can,” said Jack.
While club leaders played a large role in the club fair, the club fair was equally important for younger students looking to join new clubs. Freshman Elleana Derby was not aware of all of Hackley’s student-run organizations before the club fair.
“I didn’t know all of the clubs, but I knew there were a few clubs that I wanted to join. I’m a figure skater so I knew I wanted to join the Figure Skating Club,” said Elleana.
She discovered the Taylor Swift and Music and Culture clubs and joined them. She liked the club fair setup, as she felt there was enough space to get around and see all of the different organizations there.
Freshman Solomon Reichgott had heard about the Classics Club as he was applying to Hackley but was mainly there to see what organizations he might be interested in joining. Solomon ended up joining the Ping Pong Club, the Finance Club, and the Classics Club.
“It’s pretty chaotic because everyone’s running around trying to get food, but I think the way they had it set up outside, there was plenty of space,” said Solomon. He thinks that there were a wide variety of clubs available, and cannot think of any other clubs he’d like to see on the Hilltop.
