At Montclair High School sports aren’t the only extracurricular available to students. While MHS sports may get the high school a lot of press, they aren’t the only option for students interested in becoming involved in the MHS community. Montclair High offers a wide range of clubs, organizations, and other extracurricular activities to all students.
Being a part of extracurricular activities and clubs is very important for MHS students. It not only makes them appear well rounded to colleges, but also additionally gives them something constructive to do during their free time. Being part of a club gives the student a sense of belonging while additionally letting them express themselves in something they truly enjoy.
Clubs are the perfect way for any student to follow their interests. At MHS there are clubs for every kind of passion from climbing, cooking, debating, writing, drawing, knitting, to virtually any other hobby that can be thought of. The clubs, which are mostly student run, foster a student’s interest in particular hobbies, getting him or her more involved in things they like to do.
Junior Sander Prato, because he wants to pursue a career in business, joined one of MHS’ many business clubs, DECA club. “I joined DECA because I’m interested in business,” says Prato, “Being in the club gives me the chance to show what I’m good at and meet other students who are interested in business as well.”
Joining clubs is a great way to meet new people and make new friends because students are typically meeting other students who share the same interests as them. It’s for this reason that it’s encouraged for all incoming freshmen, and upperclassmen, to become involved in clubs or an athletic team.
Clubs also help students widen their repertoire of friends. Club involvement gives them greater social mobility, because it causes them to meet people outside of their friend group who they would have never spoken to before.
Other students join clubs simply to be a part of something. Junior Gwendolyn Stewart is in Yearbook, a club that, true to its name, designs the MHS yearbook every year. She loves it because, “I like laying out the pages for the book and everything, but it also really nice to be a part of something.”
In addition to interest clubs, there are also service clubs. The most popular service organization at MHS is Key Club, which gives its members community service hours for doing various community service activities around Montclair. Students who participate in Key Club can sign up for a wide variety of charitable activities and receive hours for them. Students who are involved in these clubs enjoy them thoroughly because they’re a way to rack up service hours, have fun, and give back to the community.
It’s just as easy to join a club, as it is to start one. MHS is very supportive of students wishing to start clubs.
Sophomore Bridget Festa and Junior Emily Halpin decided to embrace their love for Italian and start a club. MHS has many language clubs, including ones for French, Spanish, and German, but didn’t have an Italian club—until now, that is.
“We wanted to start an Italian Club to essentially create a community where we could embrace and share Italian culture with students at MHS,” says Sophomore Bridget Festa. “We also figured it would be an enjoyable way of bringing together students with mutual interests.”
While MHS does make it flexible for students to start a club, the process is still difficult and requires persistence and hard work. “Coming up with an idea for a club is easy,” says Junior Emily Halpin, “It’s executing the idea and getting the ball rolling that can be difficult. You have a big responsibility when you create a club, even once the club is approved, you still have to maintain it.”
The process for club creation at MHS involves getting the idea approved by the school, collecting signatures of possible members, and getting a teacher to advise the club. Once all this is done, you must find places to meet and people to join.
“It might be a process,” says Festa. “But it’s totally worth the work.”
Clubs are an integral part of student life at MHS. They are as diverse as the student body and for that reason there truly is something for everybody. Clubs help students find their niche, make new friends, and pursue their interests. With so many clubs at MHS it's no wonder MHS students are so busy.
