Something came up in a recent conversation with my brother that resulted in reflecting on events that positively impacted our lives. I thought I’d share this as it relates to student activity clubs.
It was the 1980s and I was in high school. I was once again “in trouble” for disrupting the class. The teacher usually ignored me, but this time he asked to see me after class. When the class came to an end I braced myself for the consequences of my actions. He gave me two options. The details of the first option eluded me, but the second option was to stay after school for 30 minutes the next day. Without hesitation, I opted for the latter. Little did I know, my teacher had a plan.
As I entered the room the following afternoon, I was surprised there were eight other students in the room, and another named Ted joined a couple of minutes later. The teacher, also an advisor to the Ecology Club, called the meeting to order and introduced Ted and me as the newest members of the club. We looked at each other, said no thanks, and began to leave. He told us to sit as he still had 25 minutes of our time.
The club president of the club took charge, announcing that it was time to elect officers for the next year. Before we realized what happened, Ted was elected president and I was elected vice president and treasurer. The teacher told us it was now up to us to recruit members, raise funds, and plan activities for the club.
Neither of us knew we were leaders in the making at the time, but we soon had well over 30 members. We wanted the club to be fun, so we wanted to go on trips. Under the watchful eye of our advisor, we researched, planned, budgeted, and did a lot of fundraising. When that was done, we presented evidence to the school principal that our plans involved learning related to ecology to get the trips approved.
We had a lot of fun on the many adventures in the mountains, woods, and rivers. And we learned without knowing we were learning, and that’s what these clubs are all about.
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