EXPLORING POSSIBILITIES THROUGH SCHOOL CLUBS

A good teacher realizes there are sides of her students' personalities she may never see because they only interact in classrooms, but teachers also work with students as club sponsors, and sometimes, that's when the real learning begins.

Being a sponsor for an extracurricular club is similar to distance learning, said Central High School math teacher Karen Atwood. Teachers and students are in a varied educational environment, and they are able to allow students to take more of a lead, as they work towards a goal.

"Being a club sponsor is just another form of teaching," she said. "I try to stay back and let the kids learn on their own. When I'm needed, I provide direction, assurance, advice just whatever they need."

Teachers, especially junior high and high school teachers, are often asked or required to sponsor a club in addition to their regular duties. Many said the responsibility is time-consuming and can be overwhelming.

"It is a balancing act," Central High School librarian Julia Jorgensen said. "You have to be very careful that it doesn't take away from your class instruction time. As a classroom teacher, it would often be overwhelming because I would have papers to grade but I would also need to be planning an event."

Atwood and Jorgensen said teachers are very flexible and often take on organizations they may not have any experience with. For example, Atwood has sponsored a math club, which is in her subject area, but she also has sponsored cheerleaders, the pep club, and now, beta club. Jorgensen sponsors Renaissance Club, an incentive and reward program, and the anthology club, which produces the Central Light collection of student writing and drawing.

Despite the necessary before- or after-school meetings and additional planning time for special events, teachers said they enjoy watching students explore fields of interest and develop leadership and organizational skills.

"We see the kids learning to become leaders and be cooperative and plan and organize events by themselves," Atwood said. "In order to be able to learn to be effective leaders they have to have opportunities, so I try to sit back."

Jorgensen said extracurricular clubs are an important part of the high school experience. Students must be able to access a wide variety of interests in order for them to determine what they want to do in the future.

"I think we change some lives in our clubs," Jorgensen said. "You may have someone who finds a passion in another club and then that becomes their vocation. But if you get in a club and you think this is not who I am,' that can be just as good."