On Tuesday, September 12, incoming freshmen and sophomores explored the club fair, an annual event showcasing the wide variety of clubs, teams, and other extracurricular activities at Townsend Harris High School. Following a brief meeting in the auditorium, incoming students proceeded downstairs to the cafeteria, where many eager student leaders set up poster boards, incentives, and sign up sheets to recruit hopeful participants.
When referring to the efforts of student leadership at THHS, Mrs. Sarah Loew, Coordinator of Student Activities described, “There was so much enthusiasm, teamwork, and pride that went into creating and updating the boards.” She continued, “I think this added to the excitement at the Club Fair itself because everyone’s hobbies and interests were represented with so many incredible visual aids.” As incoming students made their way around the cafeteria, they were drawn to boards displaying extracurriculars that interested them.
Many new students, including freshman Anna Kim, described the club fair as an opportunity for them to actually join extracurriculars and meet with other students who were already involved in them. Anna attended the club fair in order “[to learn] about the clubs [she] was planning on joining.” As a result, Anna joined Key Club, S!NG, Robotics, and Hawkapella.
While students learned about and joined various clubs and student activities, many found the experience to be very engaging and well conducted. Freshman Benjamin Babayev, who joined S!NG, Freshmen Grade Leaders, and Hawkapella, described the club fair as “really fun” and “organized really well.”
As students hoped to explore the club fair, it was a great challenge to accommodate the large numbers of students entering the cafeteria. Freshman Elyssa Lee, who joined S!NG and The Phoenix explained, “There were a lot of people and it was sometimes difficult to see the boards.” Eager THHS students crowded around boards and student leaders, collecting experiences to inform decisions to join or avoid student activities. Senior Shannon Thomas also described, “it was extremely busy and packed but fun to watch [incoming students] find certain clubs interesting.”
To accommodate so many students and introduce them to their new THHS environment, Club Liaison senior Ava Nabhatkoran worked to organize the event. Anticipating the high turnout this year, Ava stated, “The cafeteria is always really crowded so we started the event with students in the auditorium.” Dispersing the students from there allowed a more staggered entry into the cafeteria. Ava stressed, “We really worked to control all the people coming in at the same time.”
To promote student involvement, Ava described a new incentive for students to purchase SU cards and join student clubs and activities. “If you had your SU card, you could go into Room 115 and get a small gift” which included candy, a pen, and a keychain.
Overall, the 2019 Club Fair was a successful opportunity for incoming THHS students to educate themselves about a growing list of student activities. The event will only get better as Ava concluded, “We are sending out a form for feedback, but I’m glad so many clubs attended the fair this year.”
