Information about new club proposals for the 2024-’25 school year was released on April 15 with a notice for students to submit a proposal by May 8 if they wished to start a new club. In contrast to last school year, the application process has been simplified and new clubs are required to hold open applications for all executive positions.
“I was hesitant at first because I knew I had a small chance of getting picked, but I wanted to try starting a new club because I noticed that there could be other clubs that students could be more interested in, including myself,” Catherine Ryu (9), aspiring club creator, said. “Even if I do not get picked, I thought this could be a good experience.”
Last year, proposals led to the creation of many new clubs including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Bookadoodle, and Youth Investment Club. The new clubs have organized numerous schoolwide events such as an Easter Egg Hunt for middle school students, an arm wrestling tournament to fundraise money, and a book exchange. To ensure that new clubs contribute to the SIS community in a similar way, this year, aspiring club creators are required to list one event that the club plans to sponsor during the 2024-’25 school year.
“Our club aims to increase understanding among students about environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss through various activities to involve the broader school community in environmental conservation efforts,” Dyne Kim (10), aspiring “Eco-friendly Tomorrow” club creator, said. “This club will benefit the school in multiple aspects by providing students the opportunities to engage in hands-on learning experiences that can deepen their understanding of environmental science.”
Club creators have also collaborated with their peers by recruiting members and negotiating plans for the club. The simplified club proposal process urged students to think about how their club would uniquely contribute to the school.
“As new trends and developments are getting out in the world, the new club application gives students a way to find things that are not represented in the clubs that we have and figure out how to take that idea and turn it into something tangible and structured,” Chris Del Vecchio, Assistant Principal, said. “So the easy part for students is figuring out what they enjoy doing that is not currently represented in the club selection, but the harder part is figuring out how they can turn that into something that other people can get involved in.”
While new clubs may create exciting new activities for the student body, some potential negative impacts of many new club proposals include fewer club renewals and repetitive clubs. In order to incorporate innovative new ideas into the club schedule, many existing clubs are likely to not get renewed or be merged with others, potentially causing disappointment for the rising executive members of unrenewed clubs.
“I think our club is unique because we provide a wider spectrum of activities than mere education programs or recycling projects,” Dyne said. “We intend to participate in competitions, do fundraising events, host mentoring programs, and do online projects on social media.”
Q&A sessions for shortlisted club applicants will take place between May 13-29.
