Though the club fair has only been around for two years, it is an important part of Oakdale High School’s culture. Having said that, let’s see how the club fair first started.
Ms. Brooke Hontz, an Assistant Principal at Oakdale, mentioned, “It was something that we did at a previous school that I worked at, and I know that some other schools and even colleges have club fairs to promote their organizations.”
In the same interview, Hontz claimed that the club fair has not changed a lot. However, Ms. Renate Owen, library specialist, also wanted to make sure that students knew what had changed. “You can’t join three block five clubs, that’s not going to work,” she warned. In other words, joining multiple clubs that meet at the same time won’t work, because you can’t be in multiple places at the same time.
With that, the club fair has a sizable impact on students’ school lives.
When asked what clubs he joined and why, Sophomore Isaac Muriithi said: “I joined ‘Frederick Christian Athletes’ and [the] ‘Because I Said I Would’ Club [because] my friends are running the clubs and I was [also] in the clubs last year.”
While on the subject of clubs, Owen was asked how clubs start. The Media Center specialist stated, “Any club can get started by mere suggestion, a student that might have an idea for a club. They can talk to an administrator and ask if somebody can be found to be an advisor on staff and that’s how it happens.”
Muriithi viewed this club fair as a success as it was an opportunity for him to join two clubs.
The club fair offers a chance to find clubs that pique your interest. Those clubs may offer the chance to make new friends and find out something about yourself that was previously hidden.
“Speaking to this year’s club fair,” Owen described, “I think having it during the school day and allowing everyone to go to the cafeteria at one point or another in the organized fashion that it was in, I think is really great, because it gives everyone a chance to take a look and to think about 1 or more clubs if they want to join and when they can actually go to them.”
Hontz recalled, “Based on prior year’s numbers, the number of clubs offered and the number of students involved in a club has increased over the past two years” when asked what benefits she sees from a club fair.
Whether you enjoy the history or the experiences, one thing is for sure: the club fair is an important part of Oakdale High School’s culture.
