Back At Last: the Return of Clubs to NRHS

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit in March of 2020,  all student clubs and organizations were forced to adapt and make an abrupt transition from in-person meetings to Zoom calls. This sudden change created many challenges, and students had to get creative to keep their organizations afloat. After a long anticipated year-and-a-half-long wait which was unexpectedly prolonged even further by the Hurricane Ida floods, school is finally back in-person and student activities have been able to return to normal. 

I spoke to Mrs. Collins-Thomas, a social studies teacher and the Student Activities Coordinator for NRHS. Her job entails several key tasks, such as keeping schedule of all events and notifying members of the school community, keeping records of all clubs’ room reservations, and overseeing fundraising activities. Mrs. Collins-Thomas spoke about the immense challenges groups faced during virtual learning, and the current challenge of her job. “We went from having 80 clubs down to about 30 or so because many of them didn't translate [to a virtual setting]... Honor societies and such were able to flourish during COVID, but it was hard for many of the activities.” 

Mrs. Collins-Thomas also reflected upon the current obstacle of getting students involved. “We were very happy to get back in the building and to be able to do them face to face,” she said. “It's just now a culture where we haven't been in the building that much, so it's getting students to recognize to come back and stay after school and see what's out there as opposed to just running home, which has become kind of a way of life for so many of the students since we've been out for so long.” 

One club that was hit incredibly hard by the pandemic was TheatreWorks, a club for young actors that puts on school-wide theatrical productions.  In addition to the challenge of translating team exercises, an integral part of their club, to a Zoom setting, club president Aileen O’Leary discussed the upsetting cancellation of their musical “Head Over Heels”, which was set to hit the stage a week after the quarantine order went into place. Despite this unfortunate outcome, she emphasized the positive things that came out of the transition to virtual learning: “Although we grieved the loss of our show, being that we put in so much time and effort, it completely revolutionized the way our future shows would happen. Now, all of our shows are selected to withstand the possibility of going back to a virtual setting. Last year we were able to see just how much we could do online with our shows You Have to Turn your Mic on and Is There Life After High School? This year we are lucky enough to have both of our shows be in person, and in the slight chance that we would run into COVID-related complications, we are prepared, because the show must go on!” 

Club members have been working hard on a show called Twelve Angry Jurors, which will be performed December 16th-18th, and are preparing for auditions for their next musical, Theory of Relativity. They’re also working on community outreach performance opportunities with nearby nursing homes. “TheatreWorks is overjoyed to be back in person. We believe that theatre belongs on the stage, so everyone is just buzzing to put their all into their craft again,” said O’Leary. 

Kieran Freed, president of the high school’s chapter of the Junior State of America (JSA), a debate club focusing on government and social justice issues, said that engaging members and creating a social, interactive environment was much more difficult on Zoom, a challenge many clubs faced. The in-person conventions that he and other members looked forward to were also cancelled, which was a huge letdown. Despite the challenge, they made it work: “As we switched to virtual meetings, we often held debates with our ‘sister chapters’ from other schools around the region. It was great to be able to meet new people and see some old friends we met on trips. That was a nice silver lining in what was an otherwise bad situation,” Freed said. 

Freed elaborated on the excitement of being back together after so long, meeting new people, and an upcoming trip, which will be their first in over two years. “JSA was definitely a highlight of my high school experience, so I’m excited to be able to bring back some of the experiences that made me love JSA, and get some new members involved in the process!”

Fairuz Saleh, co-president of New Rochelle High School’s gender equality club FEMpowerMENt, said that outreach to lower classmen and authentically conveying the club’s message, as well as connecting with all members were some of the challenges of being virtual. “...There's just a better sense of community when you're in person. I felt like when we were online, we were always lecturing. It just felt like another class, but when you're in person, you really get the fun out of the club, not just the academic aspect.”  

Saleh also spoke about the practicality of in-person meetings and the ease of communicating, especially considering challenges with internet connection, among other technical problems while on Zoom. She’s excited to be back in-person and to see what the club will accomplish throughout the remainder of the school year. “I'm hoping that the Women's March in New York City happens in January. If there even is one this year, then we definitely want to plan for that. It'll be our first one since 2020 actually, so that will be very exciting and it'll be a great way for us seniors to spend our final winter as part of FEMpowerMENt. And the spirit and the purpose behind the Women's March is especially needed now to motivate all of us,” she said. “And I also hope to hold another Feminine Products Drive. Again, nothing is set in stone, but with the pandemic and lack of resources in itself… shelters need that now especially. And lastly, we just hope to hold more meetings and to keep getting big turnouts. And who knows, maybe we'll even get a speaker in… we'll see.” She emphasized that there’s a lot that remains unknown, but she looks forward to seeing what’s in store for the future.  

It is clear that clubs, an integral part of the NRHS community and the student experience, have prevailed despite the many obstacles, and are making a powerful return. Mrs. Collins-Thomas is a firm believer in the importance of these groups, asserting that clubs help students develop leadership skills and prepare for their college experience. She also pointed out that there is an abundance of opportunities at NRHS for students to take advantage of. After student leaders were restricted to Google Classroom, social media, and word-of-mouth to promote their organizations for such an extensive period of time, student organizations will finally have the opportunity to advertise themselves and recruit new members in-person at Club Day, scheduled to take place in early January.

Mrs. Collins-Thomas continued, “...We're trying desperately to get things back to what used to be considered the norm… to have it so that students having after-school activity becomes commonplace and students will stay and become active again, and make our community whole again.”