With more than 80 different extracurricular activities now offered to members of the Marshall community, students are encouraged more than ever to participate in activities beyond their classes. However, most of these clubs and activities are centered around a specific interest that not everyone may share or require students to invest time that they don’t have.
“I never really have time after school. And some of the clubs, the way they’re set up, just don’t interest me,” freshman Thomas Gipko said.
As a result, the option to create a new personally-tailored club has been offered to students. So how exactly does one accomplish this process? And with the ever-expanding number of activities already offered, is it wise to continue creating more clubs?
First, a student looking to create a club must submit an application including a description of their club and a constitution detailing its purpose and how it will function to the administration. In addition, a student must garner a number of signatures from students interested in the topic.
“It wasn’t that difficult; there was a lot of interest. There were also a lot of people that will support you just because they like the idea of starting a club,” freshman Quinn Lipetz said. Lipetz is in the process of creating a new fishing and kayaking interest club.
Finally, the student must have a teacher or administrator who is willing to sponsor the club.
“I think that extracurricular activities are a big part of a student’s experience, especially at the high school level,” biology teacher Steve Obringer, sponsor of Lipetz’s club, said. “The more clubs that we have and the more visible those clubs are to students, the more likely they are to join those clubs and thus, diversify their high school experience.”
If the student has met all the requirements, the club will officially be established.
Some people believe that the department of extracurricular activities has been overcrowded with too many clubs. Students can be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of activities and may not be able to decide which ones they would like to engage in and which they must pass up.
Despite this, many students are involved in several activities at once.
“I think clubs and organizations are great because you meet more people within the school,” junior Elizabeth Gardner said. “If you aren’t a part of them, I feel like you’re restricted to just people within your grade and that’s just not as much fun. Marshall has an awesome range of activities that you can do and the best thing about it too is that you feel so motivated to start whatever club you want.”