Club Participation

Alexander Connors, Staff Reporter|March 5, 2020

Clubs offer extracurricular opportunities for students to gather and exchange ideas or participate in activities relating to their interests. Hundreds of students join clubs, either to help build their college resume or just to get the most out of their high school years. But how many students stay active after yearbook pictures?

“We do tend to see an increase in club participation [during yearbook club pictures]. However, if you chose to join a club you should be in it for the long run,” explained Erika Stueber, the Yearbook teacher.

Even though it is expected that students show up to their clubs and participate, some people decide to ditch them. A few clubs on campus have these issues and struggle to find participants. One such club is the Model United Nations club.

According to the president of the Model United Nations club, Senior  Dellner, there were about 15 participants during the first couple of meetings. In recent days, however, the numbers have dwindled down to three.

“[The membership started to dissipate] as soon as it was made clear that we had to have certain things checked in and done and orderly in order to make it to the conference,” Dellner said.

Dellner also explained that people didn’t tell him that they were quitting or dropping out, they simply stopped appearing at meetings.

Some of the members who are no-shows in the clubs themselves still make an appearance in the club yearbook photos. 

 “to just join a club just to be in a picture, I see it as almost disrespectful to those who are really working hard to make a difference,” Stueber said. However, Stueber herself believes the majority of students who do participate in clubs are not just in it for the photo. Especially considering how much work it is to join certain clubs.

Kevin Ames, the assistant principal for activities, on the other hand, offers a different perspective. On the matter of students joining clubs just for pictures, Ames said “It’s not taking away from a club per se, even if you’re taking a picture then chances are you’ve been to a meeting or two. And if you’re taking a picture for it then, hopefully, you appreciate what the club is all about.”

“It’s always good to explore a little bit and see what other interest you might have, so you might join a club – that doesn’t mean you necessarily have to be tied to it for four years- you can go into it and if you like it you can stay and become a more integral part of it or it’s not your thing then you can move on,” said Ames.