Freshman Blake Williams was walking in the hallway on Sept. 26, with his friends when they stumbled across the gym buzzing with energy. Intrigued, they walked in, shocked at the gym filled wall-to-wall with students all around them, screaming to join clubs. Overwhelmed, Williams walked through and his eyes were opened to the hundreds of clubs available to join.
The club fair is a school-wide showing of the school’s 139 registered clubs, with leaders available to explain their club’s missions. Participants walk around and sign up for any club they have an interest in. Extracurricular activities director and chorus teacher Keith Schwartz said, “Being in clubs is a great opportunity to get involved at Wootton, and having one of the largest amount of clubs of any MCPS high school, there are so many options for everyone to find their own specific interest.”
This fair is one of the greatest opportunities for freshmen to understand the social culture of this school and how it values community. Williams said, “I got to see if I was interested in joining clubs and if this was how I wanted to embrace the school community. It was fun signing up and reading signs for different clubs. I can’t remember all but I know I signed up for spike ball club and interview club, and I can’t wait for their meetings to begin. The candy was definitely enticing in my decision to join clubs, I just didn’t like how crowded it was.”
Being involved in clubs has advantages for students, such as providing new experiences to explore passions. “To the underclassmen, I recommend getting involved. Your involvement in the school is one of the biggest changes from middle school, but it’s likewise one of the most fun ones. For the upperclassmen, being a club leader is great for showing colleges the variety of your passion and your organizational skills and leadership skills,” Schwartz said.
Senior Ashley Chan took this opportunity and ran with it, becoming the founding member of the composting initiative, secretary of the BEAT nonprofit (Bravely Ending Anemia Together), and creative director of TASA (Taiwanese American Student Association). “At the club fair I was able to represent the multiple clubs I’m a part of and also to sign up for new clubs I found interesting. It was so great that there were so many options, making it so there was something for everyone. There was so much variety, and it’s so nice to see so many students involved in things they love,” Chan said.
Junior Shivani Jain, board member of the popular interview club, likewise loved the fair, having the opportunity to show others how fun joining clubs could be, and their benefits. Jain said, “I loved gaining knowledge about different clubs offered at Wootton and advertising my club to students. I can’t wait to meet all the new members. We were able to gain a lot of new members because of how organized the fair was, with the booths being in alphabetical order and having QR codes so people can sign up on their phones.”
