Lesser-Known Clubs and Activities Offer Something for Everyone

A member of the Math Club might not score the game-winning touchdown under the lights on a Friday night. Best Buddies participants will probably never hear hundreds of fans screaming their names. Students participating in intramural sports may not become Olympians.

And that’s ok.

Mrs. Christina Manning, State High 11th Grade Assistant Principal in the North Building and first-year Activities Advisor, says that the lesser-known activities offered at SCASD are just as important as the really popular ones. They all have something to offer to the students who participate.

With more than 100 clubs and activities for SCASD students to choose from, there is a club for virtually everyone to explore their interests. The students in the Math Club attend GEM (Guided Explorations in Mathematics) seminars where they are exposed to math they won’t learn about anywhere else. Best Buddies participants experience friendship and acceptance they didn’t know existed. Intramural sports athletes get to stay in shape and have fun without some of the pressures of interscholastic athletics. 

“Having a variety of clubs and activities allows for almost all of our students to make connections outside of the classroom,” said Mrs. Manning. “Students involved in clubs and activities are more connected to school and tend to have more positive experiences.”

Students learn about clubs and activities in a variety of ways. Some classes are more involved in certain clubs and activities, so they find out about them in those classes. A lot of times word travels between friends, and clubs also promote events with signs and on the morning announcements.

Here we’ll highlight just a few of the lesser-known clubs that might soon be destined for super stardom!

Club Spotlight: Best Buddies

Co-advisor of the Best Buddies program at SCASD, Mrs. Jenny Lee, recalls the first time she held a meeting to introduce the program to the district in 2006.

 “We advertised free pizza as an incentive for people to come,” she said. “Forty-five ‘Buddies’ (students with disabilities) showed up and 120 general education students!”

They had ordered six pizzas and they had to quickly order more.

That was almost 10 years ago, and the program is still going strong. Mrs. Lee brought Best Buddies to SCASD with former teacher Mrs. Michelle Kump. Mrs. Kump is now a reading specialist and Mrs. Beth Keim has stepped in to fill her role.

In the Best Buddies program, students with disabilities are paired with a general education student in a one-on-one relationship. Buddies pairs attend football games together, perform community service projects, and one Buddy even recently attended the prom with his partner.

“I have learned so much from this club,” said State High Best Buddies President, senior Jessica Orndorff, “like being kind to everyone and to not judge a person before you really know them.”

The Buddies gain experience being around others in a social setting. They gain a loyal friend that they come to depend on.

“They find out that we are more alike than we are different,” said Mrs. Lee. “Isn’t that a great life lesson to take away? In the end, we all become better neighbors.”

Best Buddies is an international organization founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, of the Kennedy/Shriver family. Best Buddies conducts leadership training for the students who are the president of the club at their school.

Mrs. Lee says that students return from training full of confidence and tools to do their job of planning and running meetings, organizing events, and electing a Board of Directors. For more information about Best Buddies, email Mrs. Lee at jyl11@scasd.org.

Club Spotlight: Math Club

The Math Club at SCASD has existed for over 30 years, so it’s safe to say that it is the longest running lesser-known club. Mr. Greg Summers, a retired math teacher, was the advisor for many years. A lot of his ideas are still in place today. Mr. Erol McGowan took over last year and is looking to continue Mr. Summers’ practices and add a few of his own.

The Math Club meets twice a month on Fridays. After the meetings, they usually have pizza together, giving members time to socialize and form friendships.

“I’m always impressed that when most people are running away for the weekend, these kids are staying behind for Math Club,” said Mr. McGowan.

The main events for the Math Club are GEM seminars, which stands for Guided Exploration in Math. Once or twice a month, prestigious math professors present a topic of math that is not usually covered in classes.

“Before I became the Math Club advisor, I attended GEM seminars,” said Mr. McGowan. “They are always interesting and by far draw our largest crowds.”

With topics like ARML Power Contest, Some Geometrical Gems, and Cauchy’s Theorem, we have no doubt that they’re interesting. And while many people apologize to Mr. McGowan for not liking math, he’d like people who do like math to also speak up.

“It’s okay to say that you like math,” said Mr. McGowan. “There are good things and fun stuff in math.”

The Math Club runs its own website, offers tutoring to students who need it, and competes in math competitions like the American Regions Mathematic League. While its members are usually strong in math and in advanced classes, everyone is welcome.

For more information, email Mr. McGowan at ejm12@scasd.org.‎ 

Club Spotlight: Intramural Athletics

With approximately 1,000 students involved in intramural athletics in the SCASD between grades 4 through 12, the only place intramural athletics may be “lesser-known” is outside of the schools.

“The intramural sports programs are very well known from the elementary schools through high school,” says Mr. Ryan Walsh, Assistant Athletics Director. “It might be a ‘lesser-known’ activity within the community only because the results aren’t published in the newspaper.”

Mr. Walsh teaches 11th grade United States History and he coordinates the majority of the intramural athletics programs.

He says that the appeal of intramural sports to many students is that there isn’t as much of a commitment to practice as there is with some of the interscholastic sports. Students gain the experience of being on a team, without the fear of getting cut. They form friendships, and of course, it helps them stay physically fit.  

“These experiences allow them to discover goals, to relate to other people,” said Mr. Walsh, “and become more fully aware of themselves and their potential.”

Mr. Walsh says that at the elementary level, the most popular events are the district volleyball match and track meet. Middle schoolers like the skiing program and basketball is by far the most popular at the high school level.