WVHS students explore Clubs & Activities Fair to find ways to explore even more
Warwick Valley High School offers more than 40 clubs and co-curricular activities that give students opportunities to discover and explore their interests with their peers. Club meetings and activities typically occur outside of the traditional classroom setting, but also complement and expand upon what students learn during curriculum-based lessons. Last week, the high school held its annual Clubs & Activities Fair in the “old gym,” where student leaders and teacher advisors from nearly every group were on hand to share information and, hopefully, recruit new members.
See a gallery of pics from this year’s club fair below the story.
“The fair is a very student-driven event, as most of the club tables are facilitated by students,” said WVHS Associate Principal Chris Fiorentino. “That makes the Club Fair more meaningful for [students], because they get firsthand knowledge regarding the experience a club can provide from the student perspective.”
Mr. Fiorentino added that not only does joining a club provide students with valuable experience, but it also creates opportunities to connect with teachers, meet new people, and feel even more a part to their high school community. Many clubs even give students the chance to serve the Warwick Valley community at large, which has the wonderful dual purpose of helping them fulfill their community service requirements for graduation.
In particular, the Interact Club — advised by WVHS teacher Jeanine Fogler — works closely with the local Rotary on community service projects. The club has been a longtime supporter of the local food pantry and has been known to lend its collective hand as “elves” at the Warwick Rotary’s annual holiday party for kids.
“Our students organize at least two projects every year,” explained Ms. Fogler. “One is designed to help our school and community, while the other typically serves to promote a more global view and understanding.”
The high school’s 40-plus clubs and activities range in interest areas from the arts and athletics to social and political activity and peer governance, to languages and academic competitions, agricultural and entrepreneurial pursuits, robotics, the high school yearbook, and more. This year, a new Creative Writers Workshop was added to the catalog.
See a gallery of pics from this year’s club fair below the story.
“The club fair is a great way for students to find activities they want to be involved in outside of class,” said sophomore Noah Goetz, a Creative Writing Club member. “This way, they can meet new friends and find people with mutual interests. Our club happens during lunch, and you can come and write about anything. It’s a creative writing sanctuary.”
Dennery Simon is president of WVHS GSA, a club that works to provide a safe space for students who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community and allies.
“We do a lot of fun activities to get queer people in the community involved, and make it a space where people can find out more about the queer community and just hang out,” said Dennery. “They are always welcome here, and we love having everyone.”
There was also a strong contingent from the high school’s Studio Music Club, advised by WVHS orchestra director Elissa Maynard. Studio Music Club is a non-graded, not-for-credit co-curriculars, and gives students with an interest in making music in both a traditional and non-traditional setting, the skills, tools, and space to do it.
See a gallery of pics from this year’s club fair below the story.
As Ms. Maynard has said, “… you have orchestra, band, and chorus kids, but there’s this whole other population of students here in Warwick who make music – who are creative, who are songwriters – but maybe feel like they have nowhere to fit in. [They] want to make electronic music, or learn how to produce a track, and that’s the [club’s] demographic…”
Of course, anyone who knows Warwick Valley School District knows about the annual stage productions put on by the incredibly talented and hard-working student performers of the WVHS Drama Club! Last year’s production of Cinderella starred a gifted student troupe whose dedication to afterschool and at-home rehearsals brought the famous fairytale to life on stage. In fact, the president of the Drama Club, AbigailJoan Dunn (Class of `25 said that auditions for this year’s fall production have already taken place and were great, so keep an eye out for announcements soon about show dates and times!
Every Warwick Valley student is encouraged to get involved in as many school clubs and co-curricular activities as they want. The educational, personal, and social benefits that come with being involved in school-sanctioned clubs and activities is well-documented and cannot be denied. Read about some of those benefits in this story about the clubs and activities offered at Warwick Valley Middle School.
All of the clubs and activities offered at the high school foster development of the traits of our district’s Portrait of a Graduate, and we hope you’ll take a look at some of these examples: Studio Music Club, Youth in Government, Empty Bowls Club, and SADD.
Are you a student looking to learn more and join a club at WVHS? We’ve got all the information you need!
