The after school hallways are full of life as teens run to cars, get on the buses, hangout in groups, attend sports, and wait to be picked up. Perhaps a favorite is club activities. Ranging from HOSA to NHAS and DECA, there is a wide array of choices. However, last year was very different in terms of club recruitment and activities.

Science teacher Kellie Staback started the Environmental Club three years ago- the year COVID-19 hit. Mrs. Steback had planned to organise trash cleanups and tree planting around the community. Last year, the Environmental Club was limited to hosting craft nights and early morning meetings with presentations talking about various environmental issues.

“We had one partial year and that was crazy. Then we had mostly been around since COVID,” Mrs. Staback said.

Mrs. Staback plans to go forward with craft nights and movie nights, much like her first year with the club. She also plans to host environmental clean ups around the area.

“Without COVID, hopefully this year we’re gonna do a lot more community involvement so I’m looking at a tree planting activity where we actually go out and plant saplings in the community in different areas to promote tree growth,” Mrs. Steback said.

Much like Mrs. Staback, Media Specialist Tonishia Lamartina plans for Epsilon Beta to move forward from last year and get more involved with the community again. Epsilon Beta meets in the Learning Commons and has various book meetings and activities such as Cram Central.

“Last year we only did the national ones, we did like banned book week, Janetober, [and] National Library Week and we did cab tops,” Mrs. Lamartina said.

The clubs are valued by the sponsors, who choose to put the time and effort into making sure the students are involved at FHC. 

“The thing about Epsilon Beta is it’s all about giving back to the community aspect of it. It draws in students that really enjoy reading and it draws in students that don’t like reading, But we still find something common and it’s just neat to bring everyone together that you may never see hanging out, that are so different and they have something in common,” Mrs. Lamartina said.

Junior Marissa Wartketter is involved primarly in the environmental club.

“I think clubs and activities at FHC are another opportunity to find people that have the same interests as you and sets up activities that allow you to better your relationship and the community,” Wartketter said.

At FHC, the teachers and principles emphasise a community oriented environment. Clubs are a big part of this community oriented environment and help kids meet people who they would have never talked to or thought they had anything in common with.

“I think clubs are a way to feel attached to the school, to have different opinions on how to get involved. I think that is an important part of highschool,” Lamartina said.