As DGS students walk the commons during Mustang Fury on Friday, Aug. 30th, students are bombarded with information about all the clubs and activities DGS has to offer. Whether running the booth or signing up for emails, one of DGS’ goals is to have everyone be in at least two extracurriculars, though club creation requires a process that entails determination to form a community based on student interests.
Attempting to create a new club is a challenge from convincing new members to join to getting the meetings in place; however, issues lie with both students and staff in the creation of a new activity.
Student Activities Director Jennifer Martinez commented on the process of starting a student-led club at DGS.
“The process for starting a club at DGS is to send an email…to inquire about the process….A conversation occurs between the student and [I] regarding their interest in that particular club and about clubs we may have on campus that already exist that may meet their needs” Martinez said.
District 99 strives to create a community where all students can get involved and pursue their interests, so Martinez provided further insight into why starting a club requires a lot of thought and student interest.
“The clubs offered at DGS are based upon student interest. Official clubs have been discontinued due to lack of student interest and new emerging clubs arise and then evolve to become official clubs due to student interest and popular demand. Sometimes emerging clubs are approved and due to lack of student interest, the emerging club never becomes an official club at DGS” Martinez said.
When starting an emerging club at DGS, staff are used to sponsor the clubs to result in the overall success of the club in the future.
“Volunteer sponsors for an emerging club are essential for approval to pilot the club and for future success and sustainability of the club. All emerging clubs and official clubs require an adult sponsor, advisor coach” Martinez said.
On the other hand, students have found difficulty finding staff who are associated with their club. Junior Nico Kharat introduced her new club for women in STEM or SWENext. They haven’t become an official club, yet they hope to still spread the word.
“Trying to find a sponsor and finding [staff] who will hear [them] out [is difficult]…there’s not a good way to get the word out there” Kharat said.
“Me and my friends were thinking that it would be good to have a safe space or space for collaborative interaction between women,” Kharat said. “[I want] a team, something that like encourages me or pushes me down a path, because if I work out something for myself there’s a less likelihood that I’ll want to pursue it in the future, but with a team that could do some good, I’d be more motivated”.
Similarly, junior Kate Hanneman commented that her process in starting a figure skating club at DGS has been more unique than most.
“I’ve been trying to reach out to Mrs. Martinez [and] the club’s director, but I think I’m going to have to go towards more of the athletic route because if I want to have the club be both DGN and DGS students,” Hannemen said.
Hanneman recognizes the lack of figure skating representation in District 99 and wants to form a club that allows independent figure skaters to share their competition routines with each other and “empathize” with their shared interest in the sport. Since there aren’t enough students involved with figure skating at just DGS, Hanneman wants to expand the club to DGN in order to have more student involvement. Hanneman’s main focus is to form a community of figure skaters that can work with each other on their pre-choreographed routines, rather than competing together as a typical team would.
When starting a club at DGS, students are responsible for engagement and club resources, Student Activities and DGS as a whole are just the stepping stones students need to bridge the gap between an idea and actually forming a club. Starting a club requires long processes and many prerequisites, but they are the manifestation of the student body’s wants and needs.
