Club Day: a way to bring together a community
People walking around Club Day, robot from robotics club (Sofia Yocum, The Puma Prensa)
By Sofia Yocum, staff writer
Every year, Maria Carrillo organizes Club Day, an amazing opportunity for all students to either share their own clubs with the school or find a club that interests them. Hosting Club Day has been beneficial for inspiring students to become a part of the school community by finding something that they can actively pursue. This year, Club Day landed on Wednesday, Sep. 14, during lunch. Club members reserved a spot on the quad where they added their posters or fun activities to grab people's attention while walking by.
Maile Smith, a junior, said that her favorite part of Club Day was “seeing all the clubs that we have and getting an opportunity to learn about all of them through their posters.”
As a student in a large school, it is quite a challenge to keep track of the over 30 active Carrillo clubs. However, from Genshin Impact to Rocketry Club, there is something for everyone.
While walking through the quad, I had the opportunity to talk with Tyler Hickerson, the Coding Club President, which Hickerson said deals with all things surrounding computers. He also said that the club offers tutoring to anyone who wants to join but who has no prior knowledge of coding. The ability to join a group without expertise in a subject opens up many opportunities for trying something new.
Club Day has also increased membership among smaller clubs. President of the Women's Alliance club, Aislinn Hernandez, junior, stated that “we didn’t have a lot of variety in members.” Hernandez had started her club in the middle of February of last year, so she missed Club Day for promoting and advertising her club. “Luckily, I have very supportive teachers who already knew about my club and very helpful resources whether it be for advertising the club,” said Hernandez. “Women’s Alliance is a club run to support women and talk about discrimination while also fundraising for business and organizations that need it that locally support women,” said Hernandez. This year, the Women’s Alliance club gathered 75 signatures of possible new members. Both Hernandez and Vice President Taylor Neztsosie agreed that their club is “super beneficial to local organizations while also connecting through something that is really meaningful.” Club Day also is a way of being able to understand the importance of the clubs being made throughout the school and why fellow students decided it was important enough to share.
Kids walking around looking at posters during club day (Sofia Yocum, The Puma Prensa)
Many clubs saw a lot of benefit from Club Day, such as the Medical Careers Club and Christian Club, run by Ricardo Bolanos. Bolanos said, “Club day is mainly for getting yourself out there, getting yourself out there is very important to spread the word.” He further explained “that something really cool about Club Day is that you bring your passion to other people so that they can share that with you too.” This event allows Pumas who are new to the school to make friends, and students in general can find new and creative ways to express themselves through shared passions.
Club Day is not only for getting information about clubs run at school, it is also for establishing the relationships between a president, their officers, and members. Club communities are something that anyone can be a part of. “Working together and being very passionate about what we want to express to the club because the more passionate the club is, honestly the more outreach and more inspiration it's going to bring to other people,” Bolanos said. He added that help from his officers gives him a lot of support, saying, “I feel very lucky that I have a team of people that are willing to help me and in every single club so it doesn't feel like I have to do everything by myself.”
As a long-standing Maria Carrillo tradition, Club Day seems to have accomplished its goal of connecting as many students as possible with the variety of clubs offered at the school. Club presidents and officers all agree that Club Day is a vital opportunity to reach a wide audience of potential members. Having a place to express yourself and something you are passionate about to others who feel the same way is what Club Day is all about.