Co-curricular activities are important to have as it can help students to enhance their learning process through fun, new outlets so they can learn beyond their standard subjects (Khan, 2019). Co-curricular activities serve a myriad of purpose for both the students and teachers, but their aim is inherently the same. Co-curricular activities give students the tools they need to be active and build skills that can help extend their knowledge to society (ASPAM, 2020). Unfortunately, I was unable to witness any co-curricular activities in the Dhahran Hills School since the school was practicing distance learning, but my mentor has informed me of several co-curricular activities the school has done previously. It seemed that co-curricular activities can be divided into two different types: academic and leisure.

Academic Co-Curricular Activities

Sometimes, co-curricular activities can link to the school's curriculum. Co-curricular activities that do so are called academic co-curricular activities as it gives the students the opportunity to practice the skills they learned in their classroom to a new environment. One academic co-curricular activity the school did previously is Math Olympiad. Math Olympiad is an after school clubs students can join to practice their mathematic skills. If students feel like they are not being challenged enough in the classroom, they will have another opportunity to do so.

Leisure Co-Curricular Activities

Another type of co-curricular activities the Dhahran Hills School have is leisure co-curricular activities. Unlike academic co-curricular activities, leisure co-curricular activities does not link to the school's curriculum, but instead helps students develop other skills. Through my discussion with my mentor, I noticed that it seemed there are more leisure activities than academic activities. This wide range of leisure activities is a great option to have as students can have a variety of opportunities to develop their growth in a safe and supporting environment. Some leisure co-curricular activities the school employs are LEGO club, scrapbooking club, swimming and even dodgeball

The student body in the Dhahran Hills School is quite large, therefore, when it comes to organizing co-curricular activities a lot planning needs to go into it. Every teacher in each grade level, except for the level leaders, are required to host a co-curricular activity of their choosing. Depending on the content, some teachers can also restrict which grade levels are able to join their co-curricular activities as well as decide how many students they are willing to take on.. Once they have submitted their activity, they send it to student services for them to organize it properly; this includes finding a space for the classroom, as well as acquiring then necessary materials. Next, student services create a "club form" for students to select the activities they are interested in. All students are required to select a co-curricular activity. Students pick their top five, and rate it in accordance of interest. The school practices a "first come, first serve" principle, so students who submit their form early, will have a higher chance of receiving their top choice. After some time, administrators from student services will collect the information and organize the students into their respective co-curricular activities and post it onto the school bulletin board. There, students can find out what club they're in, members of that club, resources they will need (if necessary), location, as well as time. Time for co-curricular activities can be held after school or during lunchtime, to better manage the number of students in the building.

I think it's a great idea that all students are required to do a co-curricular activities. It will give students the opportunity to an activity their previous environment did not offer (Danoa, 2017). I also like the fact they let the teachers choose what co-curricular activities they would like to do. This would not make the teachers feel like it's a chore. Instead, they're excited to share their knowledge of other skills with their students and students will be able to get to know more about teachers as they share their interest with them.

Personally, I believe students should be allowed in two clubs; one for academic purposes and one for leisure purposes. This way students can have more opportunities to understand their interests and build a life-long skill. If I am unable to do so, I will try to combine both activities. If I had the opportunity to create my own co-curricular activity, I would definitely organize a book club. One of my passion is reading, and I would love students to share that passion with me. It would be academic as students can work to increase their literacy, but leisure as well as students are not told what book they have to read which can usurp the fun out of it. At the end, we can even have a reading party and organize small activities such as creating their own bookmark.