The annual clubs fair typically consists of a flurry of candy, decorative poster boards, and excited but confused 9th graders wandering around the gym, but in the year of COVID-19, it looked quite a bit different.
This year, club leaders were required to submit mission statements that were compiled into a brochure and had the option to create 20-30 second videos to “present” at this year’s fair. The videos were compiled into one video that aired during the clubs fair livestream. After the video, breakout rooms were available to students who wanted to learn more about clubs they are interested in.
Senior Gavin Kimmel is co-president of the Iris: Art and Lit. magazine this year. He was skeptical about the online clubs fair going in, but was happily surprised. “I think the videos turned out very well, and the breakout rooms were a great way for students to interact directly with club leaders. It worked as well as our distance learning platform allowed it to.” Kimmel said.

Just like in previous years 9th graders will be required to attend three club meetings at the beginning of the year. After the virtual clubs fair, they were sent a form to select clubs they are interested in joining. 9th grader Siri Pattinson is new to SPA this year. “I thought it was really well done. All the videos were nicely put together, funny, and thoughtful. I was interested in more clubs than I could fill out on the Google Form,” Pattinson said.
The schedule and timing for clubs is not yet firm because of SPA’s transition from online learning to a hybrid model, but the times are listed on the student newsletter on a weekly basis. A list of all the club leaders and their contact info is now open for all students who are interested.