Photo Credit: Karen Manley

On Friday, September 22, Fossil Ridge High School’s annual Club Rush was held in the gym during advisory. The entire freshman class had an opportunity to walk around and view tables, which were decorated uniquely to each club. Some sophomores also attended the event because their teachers wanted to give them the chance to find a new extracurricular, and two members of each club were excused from class to staff their tables.

Brad Nye, assistant principal of Fossil, explained Club Rush is held because, “we understand the importance of students being plugged into the school. We want to highly encourage it. And, especially for our freshmen, they don’t necessarily know all the opportunities that we have.” The administration wants to build time into the curriculum for these younger students to interact with the upperclassmen.

The structure of Club Rush has remained similar for the last few years. All school-sponsored clubs, as well as a variety of classes like Ridge T.V. and Journalism, are given a table to decorate and entice students. This year, information on student-sponsored clubs was listed on a single table without representatives, but gave the class a chance to have a complete view of all the potential things they can be involved with. Freshmen are required to visit at least five tables, and fill out a worksheet with information such as when the club meets and what a meeting looks like. Then, each student has to attend at least one club meeting, write a short reflection on what took place there, and get the sheet signed.

Freshman Ember Rhode had an idea of what the event would be like before she went, but she wasn’t completely sure what to expect. She definitely wants to be involved in clubs at Fossil, and after Club Rush, she’s considering the Chocolate Book Club and Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). The leaders she talked to were all very knowledgeable and passionate about their activities. She thought that the worksheet could be simplified and narrowed to a few clubs per person, which would enable them to really dive deeper into their real interest. However, she enjoyed the experience overall.

Different groups had different strategies for recruiting potential members. Drama Club is lucky enough to have access to a room full of props, so participants carried fake legs and old-fashioned telephones around the gym. Songwriter’s Guild toted guitars to their table and gave short performances to give an idea of what the club is like, and German Club plastered their table, and their visitors, with German Flag stickers.

Yet other clubs went a simpler route and printed fliers with their information so that students could easily take it with them. Greta Tucker, a representative from Writer’s Guild, said that, “I handed out eighty fliers. I ran out before the second wave of freshmen even got to the gym.” Her club provides a space for aspiring writers to get feedback on their writing, as well as just providing a block of time for their passion. She got into Writer’s Guild after Club Rush her freshman year, and that’s why she thinks it’s important that freshmen get to attend.

Britony Orwick, a Language Arts teacher at Fossil, believes that Fossil holds Club Rush every year because, “it’s a great way for students to find out what [clubs] are out there, and also for them to see who’s involved.” Since “freshmen don’t know about the school, don’t have the inside perspective yet”, it’s very important to help them be a part of “the family at Fossil”. She primarily teaches sophomores and seniors, but she has a freshmen advisory this year.

Because anyone can form a club if they want to, Club Rush provides a special opportunity for students to truly understand all the things that are possible at Fossil. As Nye, who has been the activities director at three high schools, put it, “we have more opportunities here than at any school I’ve worked at. If we don’t have a club here that meets your needs, you can start your own. We have a very high percentage of students who are active in the school community, and I love that.”