By Kieran Holley
With over 70 clubs, each year Hershey High students continue to come up with new club ideas.
The process for creating a club is long, but students are willing to wait in order to form a club that they are passionate about.
Student’s forming a new club must go through a certain set of guidelines before getting the approval of the principal, Dr. Dale Reimann.
The first step to forming a club is finding a teacher who is available to be a supervisor. In most cases, students already have a teacher in mind to be a supervisor for their club, but not always. If the club cannot get a supervisor, then the club can not get formed.
Juniors Dan Buser and Campbell Dunham had trouble finding a supervisor for Cinema Club, which they started in September of 2014. Although they started last year, the difficulties of finding a supervisor held them back a year. They initially asked Robert Sterner, an English teacher at HHS, to be their advisor, but he was not able to at the time.
Next, each club must complete a proposal sheet saying what the club is, and how it will contribute to the curriculum at HHS. On the proposal sheet, there are a list of questions that the club members must fill out before getting approval from Reimann. He uses these question to assume whether or not students will want to be involved in the club and to help make his decision. Finally, he meets with the club starters to ask even more in depth questions about the club and makes his final decision.
One of the reasons that Reimann allows so many clubs to get created is due to the fact it brings HHS students together. “Clubs bring in a lot of different personalities, and provides more opportunities for students to get closer to the school,” Reimann said.
After the club gets their necessary approval, the club leaders then try to get the word out about their club. Making a social media account is popular for club members to make because high school students often use social media. Members also come up with morning announcements, to reach out to everyone in the school. Spreading the word in classes and at lunch is another way that clubs reach out to people around school.
When organizing club meetings, it is totally up to the supervisors and the club members. Most clubs meet once a week, or every other week. Clubs also have the option to meet in the morning for those who have other clubs or commitments at the end of the day.
“Clubs are places that many different students can come together and be passionate about a topic,” said Reimann.
