As Emerald High continues to take the steps towards becoming a well established high school, opportunities for Emerald High students have steadily expanded. One such opportunity recently opened on January 15, when Emerald students became officially eligible to charter clubs with sufficient membership and approval from Ms. Stimson.

Clubs are an important part of the high school experience and help students increase their activity outside of school. However, since Emerald High is yet to be an established high school, no club has existed prior to this year. Although many had already been informally created in Emerald High, these clubs now have the chance to be officially recognized by the school with mandatory meetings and activities. 

Sanjay Suresh, a freshman at Emerald High, commented on what his experience has been like as so many new clubs are being created simultaneously: “Being able to charter clubs is both exciting and chaotic since everyone is scrambling to charter their clubs. Everyone keeps asking you to join their clubs by advertising interest forms,” Sanjay explained. 

However, given the novelty of official clubs at Emerald High, many clubs have been struggling to meet all of the requirements for a club. For instance, if a club doesn’t have enough members, a set time, and a confirmed student advisor, the club can’t be formed. This has led to a massive and frenzied surge in interest forms being sent out throughout Emerald High, with each form being sent by students trying to recruit members for a variety of different clubs. 

Another setback for some clubs is that students have had to compromise if other students are trying to form the same club as them. This tests students’ ability to cooperate with others and find a solution that everyone is content with without the intervention of a teacher. 

That being said, despite a lack of formal recognition, some Emerald High clubs have been thriving. One of these clubs isEmerald High’s debate club, among the few clubs with active members and productive meetings every week even before club chartering opened. 

Kshitij Gairola, secretary of the Emerald High debate club, explained why the club has been flourishing in recent months: “We believe the Emerald High School debate club is performing comparatively well due to our organization having pre-planned lessons and logistics during meetings to ensure that tournaments and other tasks go smoothly,” Kshitij commented. 

Now that clubs can officially be chartered, countless more clubs will soon achieve the success that the debate club has already had. As this occurs,  students can look forward to not only forming amazing friendships through shared interests but working to create a great, lasting organization for their future high school.