Students are becoming more involved this school year with their interests through new club opportunities.
“Danielle approached me with the idea for a new club. I would say the kids who join the club are getting a good chance to pursue their interests and learn. They could gain skills for a future career in law or criminology,” Linda Williams, sophomore and junior English teacher, said.
With many Greenwood students, including sophomore Danielle Glenn, revealing their interest to pursue fields in law and crime, Williams decided to represent them by creating a new club. Similarly to her, Jenny Pfeiffer, an Earth Space Science teacher, began the Meteorology Club after getting recommendations from students.
“A few students came to me at the beginning of the school year and were very interested in getting people to understand that weather can be fun,” Pfeiffer said.
Exploring more in-depth topics proves to be rewarding for teachers who organize school clubs. For example, Williams particularly liked the idea of the club because of the connection it has with the one of the classes she teaches.
“The Law and Criminology Club goes along with the AP Language and Composition class that I teach because doing things like holding mock trials will help develop the kids’ rhetoric,” Williams said.
Having the ability to branch out and learn more about themselves will benefit students and help them feel more connected with their peers. Witnessing students develop a sense of community within their respective clubs has brought a sense of joy to teachers hosting new clubs.
“The purpose of Meteorology Club is to get students involved in weather. I want them to be excited to learn more and do activities,” Pfeiffer said.
High school is the perfect time for students to discover more about themselves before they pursue job opportunities. Student involvement has been an issue in the past, but with the addition of new clubs, it provides students an environment to belong with different groups of peers.
“I think it’s going to be good for people to explore different career fields that go along with these topics,” Glenn said.
These more specific club options give students the opportunity to experiment and be adventurous.
“Some club activities that we were thinking about doing this year include bringing in guest speakers who have studied in related fields and learning about famous cold cases. We also are going to discover more about DNA and how it plays a role in crime scenes,” Glenn said.
Activities for clubs may be difficult for some teachers to think of, so to fix that problem, new clubs have been having the students develop all the projects they want to do.
“The activities we do in our club are going to be all student-based. They have been hoping to create wind-measuring devices and learn about tracking weather,” Pfeiffer said.
Doing club activities with fellow students allows kids to realize what they are interested in exploring more.
“I am more interested in the science aspect of Law and Criminology. I personally think it’s really interesting how forensics grew so fast,” Glenn said.
