Clubs Vs. Covid

Q: How have club activities changed in the past year? What are the biggest differences you have noticed? (Participation/Decrease in members? Service projects/activities? Communication?)

A: “We still have great participation with nearly 125 members this year. The biggest change is that we have allowed students to report service hours completed outside of school. In the past, only service hours offered by Key Club counted. This year, however, service hours with youth sports, church, scouting, etc can be counted toward Key Club hours.”

Q: What has been the biggest struggle so far?

A: “The biggest struggle is finding activities that students can participate in within the community while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Many of our usual activities, such as 5K Runs or the holiday parades, have been canceled due to the pandemic.”

Q: Has anything become easier? (More members arriving at meetings now that they are virtual? Has Google Classroom improved organization?)

A: “We have utilized Classroom for many years to keep everything organized for our members and to send alerts for newly posted service opportunities so nothing has changed there. The challenge this year is that Classroom is our only means of communication with members. Usually, we have announcements on Tiger TV, and students would drop into my room daily to sign up for new service opportunities. We also did a big push to reach out to as many freshmen as we could to engage them in extracurricular activities this year. In the past, it has been difficult to get the officers together after school to plan future events and meetings. Now we meet virtually via a Meet in the evening. One of the nicest things to come of this situation is that we have moved officer meetings to evenings and weekends via a Meet rather than immediately after school. It gives everyone a chance to have input on the topics being discussed without being worried they are missing something due to a sports commitment or that they have to make up a test. It has been really nice to plan activities with a full board of officers at these meetings.”

“After talking to fellow students from a wide range of clubs, one significant change of switching after-school organizations to Google Meets is the level of involvement or participation. Due to the decrease in available activities at school or in the community, there have been fewer opportunities to meet required hours for certain clubs or to meet new people and create personal connections. Members of the drama club have said not being able to meet with everyone in person makes practice and stage directions difficult. However, they have also highlighted some positive aspects about the move to functioning virtually. Being able to share performances online has allowed hundreds to enjoy a great show that many may not have been able to attend before in person. In general, virtual meetings have reduced the number of conflicts between club meeting times directly after school. Now, meets can occur at any time on any day with lots of communication through Google Classroom or email.”

“So it is difficult to say whether or not club functionality has improved. From advisor to student, many have noticed differences, for better and for worse. How have these changes affected you personally? Can we expect to see some of these positive adjustments in the future when schools return to full in-person learning? Will they return back to normal, just as they were? All in all, the extracurriculars have certainly changed, and all clubs are doing their best to keep engagement high and activities fun for all of their members while keeping them safe.”