Clubs
Understanding Incubate Debate
By: Jake Heitman
Hilton Head Island High School is no stranger to higher learning but very few activities compare to Incubate Debate here at HHIHS. Incubate Debate is not just a normal debate team but makes HHIHS unique in a magnitude of ways. Ms. Spisz, sponsor of the team, explains what Incubate Debate is.
She said, “The Debate Team is a new program here in the Beaufort County School District but the program was initially based in Florida and we are the first district outside of Florida to have included it. The basics of it are that students will be given four topics to debate on and they are usually tied to national or international topics. They will have three district debates where they’ll be given four brand new topics for each one.”
When asked about the team's practice schedule, she said,” We meet once a week on Thursdays after school”. In addition to her interesting response, she added how there is an interest meeting on Thursday September 7th after school.
“At the start of each tournament preparation there's going to be a lot of research because students need to bring in a lot of facts about what they're debating on for competitions. We will also practice rhetoric and argumentation exercises here and there to prepare them to defend their ideas. A few weeks out of the competition, we will start to do some practice debates to get them ready for the competition ahead,” is how Ms. Spisz will run debate team practices.
In terms of how often the competitions are, she replied “ We have a competition about once every other month through January for the district debates here in Beaufort County. Based on your ranking, you could potentially have the opportunity to attend Nationals in Jacksonville, Florida on April 5th and 6th.
Pursuing higher learning and extracurricular activities is a great way for a student to expand their knowledge and academic output, but the debate team has some unique returns.
When asked what potential returns a student could get for participating in the debate team, Ms. Spisz replied. “Ultimately, if a student makes it to Nationals, they have the opportunity to win a college scholarship. Throughout the year, if you're a member of the team, there will be smaller competitions mainly involving essays where you can also win college scholarships. A student will also be more well rounded if they participate and gain a better understanding of global events if they are a part of the team.”
Incubate Debate has a magnitude of benefits for students. More students should consider taking part in the team and participating in Incubate Debate.
Spanish NHS
By : Samanta Garcia
Spanish Honor Society is a club at Hilton Head Island High School that is only invited in. With other Honor Society clubs like Science Honor Society, Math Honor Society, French Honor Society, and Social Studies Honor Society. Ms. Gerner is Hilton Head Island High School Spanish Honor Society advisor who runs it.
Ms.Gerner is the teacher who runs/advises Spanish Honor Society but she has officers who do most of the work. President Grant Pagatpatan, Vice President Maria Ibarra, Treasurer Liliana Herdandez, and the Secretary Elphna Hernandez who are all seniors
Not many people know what the club is or what they do, Ms.Gerner said that “ Spanish NHS is an organization with the higher level of the Spanish, what they do is just community service, and then just getting involved with the culture, and they practice the language in a fun way.”
“They have to have completed three years of the same language and have a score of an A.”
There are many Spanish teachers in Hilton Head Island High School. She got selected to be the Spanish Honor Society advisor because she teaches the highest level of Spanish. “So most likely in our department the person who teaches the highest level will be in charge of that.”
“Yes, I’m very fortunate I do have a good set of officers, and then what I do is just facilitate so I’m just like an advisor. I just sit there and they take control.” Ms. Gerner said she does enjoy running Spanish Honor Society and that she is very fortunate to have a great set of officers and she just gets to sit and watch them.
You get invited in but you can also get removed, she said “Last year we would remove the students. It's just because they didn’t have service hours and they had to have ten hours of community service. That is something that would push the students out of the club and also inappropriate behavior.”
“ We try to make it not as big as National Honor Society because we’re still a small club and we wanted to keep it, we try to have almost between 40 - 50 students.”
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All the Honor Society clubs have meetings. The Spanish Honor Society has one once a month but if the officers need to have one then they can set up another meeting.
Spanish Honor Society is one of many Honor Society clubs here in Hilton Head Island High School. They work on community service opportunities and practice of the language. It’s a very good club to get invited to, many requirements to get invited but an amazing club to get invited to.
National Honors Society at HHIHS
By: Jake Heitman
Throughout time, it has always been a person's duty to give back to their community in hopes of inspiring others to do the same. Volunteering in one's local community not only allows a person to feel good about themselves, but learn problem solving, organization and task management skills. Here at HHIHS, we as a school strive for excellence like this, and we do this through the National Honors Society. Ms. Emerick, the club's sponsor, speaks on what exactly NHS is.
“NHS is a national organization that helps students develop leadership, scholarship, and character. We do this through acts of service in the community. We, as a group, plan a meeting where we come up with ideas for service projects and we all volunteer to work on them.”
When asked how often the group meets, she said, “We try to meet at least once a month before school. All of our meetings are held at 8:00 am in the media center and the days will vary.”
“A student wanting to get involved can easily do so.” She replied when asked how someone can get involved. “Just come by B100 and talk to me and I’ll get you an application. But hurry applications are due on October 5th!”
When asked about how she, as the club's sponsor, has grown as a person from participating in the club, she replied, “Sponsoring the NHS has helped in a lot of ways, but most importantly, it's opened my eyes to how to be a better person. From participating in service projects, giving students scholarship opportunities, all the way to seeing the students grow themselves.”
Overall, the NHS has been nothing but a positive experience and influence on the students of HHIHS and as a school should continue to support not just the students participating in the club, but the local community they strive to serve as well.
HHIHS Book Club
By: Mia Heitman
Hilton Head Island High School has a myriad of clubs that students can choose from. One of these clubs is book club. Book club is a group of people who adore reading. They meet on campus each month to discuss books of all genres, from romance to science fiction.
Ms. Andis is the advisor of book club, and likes the club to be student lead. “I never want to make it feel like I am in charge of it or that I am driving it.” Therefore, students nominate books to read and lead discussions after they are done reading. The chair of the book club, Garrett Simons, produces most of the questions to use in discussions. The members of the club love to talk and share their thoughts about the chosen book. Some students “end up reading so much they talk about other books they are reading and share their ideas that way,” as well.
Because the participants of the book club are the ones who choose the books, students can suggest whatever book they would like to vote on. Mr. Andis has fun themes for each month. For example, in October, students can vote from a few different books that are eerie and spooky. “During the holidays we do something cozy. In February, we will have a romance,” says Ms. Andis.
After the group completes a book, they will have a discussion about what they learned, how they liked certain components of the book, etc. There are countless books that have questions and discussion guides to spark a conversation. However, Ms. Andis also allows students to voice their own opinions about the book.
Ms. Andis has big plans for the future of the book club, as she wants to do something to give back to the community. “I saw a library up in New England taking scrap fabric and sewing bags to carry books in. Some of them go to local students and families, but the rest go to children in Africa who do not have bags to carry their books.” She plans to do this in the near future with her book club members and give other children the opportunity to read.
Book club meets in the media center each month on a Thursday. It takes place during all three lunches, which gives all students a chance to stop by. Book club is great for anyone who loves to read and wants to relieve some tension from long days at school. Ms. Andis describes the atmosphere of the book club as, “a community space. It should be a place where everyone feels welcome.”
Solving Bad Math Grades in the School
By: Ellie Mastrorocco
Math Tutoring at the high school entails the assistance with homework and math concepts in order to allow students to perform better in class and on tests. Mu Alpha Theta is an honor society that organizes math-oriented fundraisers and events in order to bring math back into the community. They tutor at Neighborhood Outreach Connections (NOC) and create available in school tutoring opportunities.
Ella Christie, the Historian of the club, explains how she helps organize the club such as making passes and giving her approval on proposals.
There are currently 40 senior members and a large influx of juniors are expected to come this fall after applications are all completed. Those who participate are offered scholarships, amazing opportunities for service in their community, and memorable experiences in which they can include in their resumes.
Every first Thursday of the month is member meetings, and every Thursday after school is tutoring hours. Students can sign up through Google Classroom for after school tutoring, or show up afterschool to NOC and document their presence. Juniors and seniors are the only ones that may tutor, but any grade level can come and be tutored.
Math National Honors Society
By: Ashton Johnson
Math National Honors Society (also known as Mu Alpha Theta) is dedicated to inspiring keen interest in mathematics, developing strong scholarship in the subject, and promoting the enjoyment of mathematics among high school students. Kevin Hernandez, a new member of Math National Honor Society speaks about the organization.
“Math National Honors Society offers a way for the members to get scholarships, and recognition from colleges,” said Kevin enthusiastically when asked why students should join Math National Honor Society. If you are interested in going to college, Math National Honors Society offers a very good way to help your resume.
If you are interested in joining Math National Honor Society, “Members must be in high school, you need to have completed at least two years of college preparatory math classes which includes Algebra 1 and Geometry, and have enrolled in a third year math course, and the last qualification is you need to have at least a 3.0 GPA on the 4.0 scale.” If you are a junior or a senior, then these are easily attainable and you can join the Math Honors Society today.
“Students can also earn community service hours by tutoring others. Along with this, people can also earn scholarship money and other awards by being a member of the Math National Honors Society.” Community service hours are hard to come by, so tutoring others is a fantastic way to rack up service hours and possibly go for the Mayor's Award, which also looks great on a resume.
SGA at HHIHS
BY: Kourtney Kosto
SGA, also known as Student Government Association, is a program at our school that is very important.
According to the coordinator Ms. Lee “this program is a way as a student to share your ideas and have your voice heard”.
One of the things that SGA does that Ms. Lee feels is the most important is when they meet with the Beaufort County superintendent. Last year SGA was successful with sharing some ideas with him that ended up being brought to our school. For example SGA got to choose new lunch items for the school.
Some of the things that SGA does includes Homecoming week, charity events, and pep rallies. Not only do they participate in them, they put them together, and organize these events.
To sign up this year there will be a google classroom code and a welcome meeting that will be at some point in the first semester.
FCA at Hilton Head Island High School
By: Lucy Morales
‘FCA’ stands for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It is the only Christian club at Hilton Head Island High school. The club is meant for discipleship. Anthony Bynum is the “face of FCA” and he states that the overall goal of the club this year is to “spread the love of God and help people be more knowledgeable about Him.”
This year, FCA plans to grow as a club and host more school related events in hopes to get more students involved. Meetings are usually held Fridays at 8 am at the main gym. “FCA does lessons on God’s nature and how members can incorporate that nature into their own lives, especially sports,” states Anthony. Although sports are significant at FCA, anyone is welcome to join, not just athletes.
Anthony believes FCA is unique because it is religious, and because of the positive energy that they have. There is a lot of support between members and a lot of discipleship for God.
“If you’re intrigued to join, I’d say definitely do it just because it's not a commitment, it's something that you show up to if you’re interested in learning more about God. Definitely show up to one of our meetings and see what we have to offer!” Anthony concluded.