SFHS's New Club System

Jia Dunsby | August 25, 2022

It’s August - welcome back! The start of a new academic year means we can participate in our beloved extracurriculars once again. Whether they be sports practices, musical rehearsals, or in-school group meetings, club activities serve as a very important mechanism for academic and social stress relief.

But get ready for some big-time changes! In addition to our re-vamped class schedules, the club's schedule will look very different this year. To ease any confusions that may arise, I've interviewed Yeonjae Choi, the co-director of SFHS’s Clubs Council, who laid out the transition for us.

Alright, let’s start with the logistics. The new schedule now allows for club meetings to take place on two days out of the new 6-day cycle, meaning clubs will now meet once every 6 school days on one of those two allotted club days.

Such meetings can be scheduled during periods 4, 5, to 6. Accordingly, the administration team has created a rule: as Yeonjae explains, “Each person can sign up for a maximum of four clubs in total. Of these four, [a student] can sign up for a maximum of two clubs that take place on each of the club days.”

Essentially, the most dramatic change is the “frequency of club meetings and the number of periods per day available for club meetings.” With last year’s 8-day cycle, clubs could only meet during period 6 on days A, B, C, E, and H. Now, however, clubs will meet in periods 4, 5, and 6 on days 1 and 4.

For all clubs that take place during school hours, you’ll meet once every six days instead of once every eight days. Well, you may be wondering, why not keep last year’s club schedule? As Yeonjae explains, club meeting times had to be modified in accordance with the school-wide 6-day cycle that was newly established for the 22-23 academic year.

Because 2 out of 6 days is much less than the 5 out of 8 days allocated to clubs last year, periods 4 and 5 were also made available for club meetings in addition to period 6.

According to Yeonjae, the greatest advantage of the new schedule is the increased frequency of club meetings, up from 2 to 3 times a month last year to 3 to 4 times a month this year. “With members coming together more frequently, I think this will improve the engagement within clubs as well as allow clubs to make more progress over the school year,” she said. Furthermore, since club meetings will be concentrated into just two days of the cycle, friends can coordinate to hang out more easily on the remaining days. (After all, how many times did you hear, “Sorry, I have a club today” after asking someone to meet up during sixth period last year?) Now, you will know which days all students (not just those who are “club free”) have an open schedule.

Of course, we’ll still have our trusty after-school clubs, too. These groups include Yearbook, The Spirit, MUN, Engineering & Design, sports, music ensembles, and more. As Yeonjae states, “These meetings require more time than what is available during periods 4, 5, and 6,” which is why they will take place any time after 3:15.

For these clubs, executives or advisors (coaches, music directors, etc.) will determine meeting times. Also following last year’s format, applications for creating and renewing clubs will be released at the end of this school year.

Regarding club membership, Yeonjae’s personal advice is to take advantage of new opportunities. She says, “try all of them out as early as you can” in order to figure out which high school activities you find the most intriguing and entertaining. Make sure to get the most out of the information presented to you at club fairs.

She adds, “However, it is also important to consider what other academic and non-academic commitments you have. Try not to overload yourself by signing up for too many clubs” as doing so can cause time-management issues and in- conveniences for yourself and other club members.

Whether you are a freshman excited to see what activities you find amusing or an upperclassman eager to return to the comfort of your favorite clubs, get ready for an exciting year! Use this article to familiarize yourself with the new system before you dive in. This goes for everyone: Try new things, exercise your passions, and most importantly, don’t forget to have fun! After all, that’s what these clubs are all about.