Students are feeling the pressure of work and afternoon activities, and some Williston students say they don’t have enough time for clubs.
As the year kicks off, club leaders have found it difficult to get a successful turnout in their meetings. Because of students’ busy schedules, especially for varsity athletes, it can be very challenging to join clubs.
The student body showed up at the club fair on Sept. 11, with more than 80 kids signing up for clubs including: Best Buddies, Fishing Club, Jewish Club, Chess Club, and dozens others. Historically, during the year, because of the small window of free time students have in a typical day, this number drops drastically. Many students want to join and participate, but just can’t find the time to add one more thing.
Carter Cleary, a five-year senior and the founder of the Politics club, finds it difficult to schedule and find participants. Because of his own athletic commitments, he had to rule out Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays as potential meeting dates. He ended up choosing Wednesday, “because it is a day for less homework and a shorter day,” he said. “However I have already had members say they couldn’t attend due to Wednesday games.”
Alex Landon, a three-year day student, and founder of the Best Buddies Club, chooses to hold meetings on Tuesdays or Thursdays.
“People tend to be busy Friday nights, and Wednesday people have games, so Tuesday and Thursday are usually better days, where people tend to be less busy,” he said.
Other clubs Williston offers include: Board Game club, Composing club, Japanese Food club, Pen Pals club, Pool club, Williston Improv club, and more.
Brendan Capshaw, a six-year senior day student from Southampton, Mass., doesn’t believe he has enough time to fit clubs into his busy school day. If he had more time, Brendan said he would “love to to join a club like the Fishing club.”
The fishing club is run by Cal Hoyt, a six year senior, from Hatfield, Mass. The club meets on Sundays to go fishing at different locations in Western Mass. Cal believes that the school does a good job promoting clubs, but understands why participation isn’t always high.
“I think the school does a pretty good job on making clubs available, and most times it’s up to the club leaders to promote their club and increase participation,” he said.
Caroline Channell, the Assistant Dean of Student Life, and the Leader of the Club program, believes that, despite the time crunch, students can fit clubs into their schedule.
“It’s no secret that there is limited time to fit clubs into a Williston student’s schedule,” she said. “However, I think that it is possible when students are willing and able to be flexible. Students do not have time to fit every club they’re interested in, but there is certainly time to fit a few in.”
“Also,” she added, “not all clubs are created equally—some meet on an event basis and are casual, while others need to meet weekly to make progress or prepare for a competition.”
Channell provided solutions for students who can’t make meetings due to other commitments.
“Students should reach out to the club leader if they cannot make a meeting to see if there is another meeting in the future or a club related event that they could attend,” she explained. “For example, perhaps the Community Service club has planning meetings every Monday morning but you cannot attend. You could still stay involved by volunteering on a given weekend at the Ronald McDonald House.”
