Have you ever wanted to explore the world of playing ping pong, or learn about volunteering opportunities, while consuming vast amounts of candy? The place to find all that would be at the annual Upper School Club Fair.
On Thursday, September 11th, students gathered on the Quad during the first half of their lunch period, looking to join different clubs and find the clubs they have been members of in the past.
For the seventy-five tables at the club fair, almost every table came with a poster showing the work of their club and the mission behind the club. Similar to last year, this year’s club fair was organized by the type of club. Clubs were split into three categories based on the direction and idea behind the club. Community passion clubs (clubs centered around shared interests) and Community Building (clubs centered around the identity-based aspects of members, and are open to anyone) are the two largest groups. The final group of clubs are the Community Engagement clubs. This group features clubs focused on service initiatives and making an impact off campus. Many of these clubs will work with organizations to lead service initiatives on campus, such as Hearts and Homes for Refugees.
“It was fun to be able to join the clubs my friends lead and join the clubs that interest them, but it was overwhelming and chaotic trying to find those clubs and sign up for new ones,” junior Charlie Heim said.
That feeling is shared among many Upper School students, who feel that the club fair is overwhelming, trying to visit seventy-five tables in forty minutes. The overwhelming aspect of the club fair was a feeling shared among Upper School students, many of whom felt it was hard to sign up for the clubs they wished to join in such a short amount of time.
Throughout the period, club leaders would explain their missions, and try to convince passersby to sign up, and many would reward those who did join with candy. However, for some, it wasn’t the candy that led them to join a club. Addie Tepper, the leader of Hackley Animal Rescue, brought her own dog to school in hopes of attracting students to join her cause.
“The club fair is a great opportunity to meet new people and new students, particularly the new ninth graders, and it’s great to see students excited over the things they love and as a club leader, share my interests with others, while getting free candy,” said senior Isabelle Cai. Isabelle leads both the Linguistics Club and STEM Club and is excited to share her interests with others in these clubs heading into her senior year.
Freshman Daniel Rotenberg had known about a few of the clubs the Upper School had to offer through his sister and friends, and was surprised to see how many clubs there were, and how they are student-run, compared to faculty-run in the Middle School.
“I loved being able to see the different tables with my friends and see what the mission behind those clubs was, and how many different clubs the Upper School had to join, and being in the Middle School here allowed me to hear about clubs from friends who I swam with in the winter,” Daniel said.
He ended up signing up for a handful of clubs, such as Guiding Eyes for the Blind Club, and Ping Pong Club. He is excited to be a member of those clubs, and the potential of leading his own club one day.
