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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Club Fair returns to SBHS

On Sept. 24, students gathered in the hallways outside the freshman cafeteria to attend the Club Fair.

Ipsita Rao and Mahathi Ayyagari, Viking Vibe staff
On Sept. 24, students gathered in the hallways outside the freshman cafeteria to attend the Club Fair.
   The event was designed to showcase the various clubs and extracurricular activities available to students.
   ”We had the Club Fair because we wanted to make sure the freshmen knew about the clubs we were offering,” Activities Coordinator Gina Welsh, who organized the fair, said. “We wanted to make sure that they were able to go around and feel comfortable about being able to go back to clubs afterwards.”
   The Club Fair was brought back to SBHS after a five-year hiatus because School Site Council parents thought freshmen needed more information about clubs, according to Mrs. Welsh.
   ”We didn’t do it in the last few years because we had to cut back on the number of clubs we were offering,” Ms. Welsh said.
   There was a lot of preparation that went into organizing the club fair.
   ”We’ve been preparing for it since last year,” said Ms. Welsh.
   Advisors were notified last spring so that they could have their respective clubs make posters, trifolds, and any other necessary displays in anticipation of the fair in September.
   ”I thought we did a good job with having (the club fair) in the hallways here,” Ms. Welsh said.
   However, there were some complaints regarding the set up of the tables.
   ”It was too cluttered and crowded,” Scott Laurence, science teacher and an advisor for Biomedical Futures club said. “It should have been more spread out in the hallway because it was too condensed (and) you couldn’t even see the boards.”
   In addition, many students did not like that the tables for some clubs had been set-up in the adjacent hallway, away from the majority of the other tables.
   Ms. Welsh agreed and said that changes are already in the works.
   ”I noticed as it was going on that the side clubs weren’t getting as much business,” said Ms. Welsh. “It seemed like everyone was just staying in (the main) hallway so I guess I have to make some adjustments for next year to keep everybody happy.”
   Students also gave their opinions on how the club fair can be improved next year.
   ”It would had been better if it had been there for more days so that there could have been more exposure,” junior Aparna Seshadri said.
   However, many of the students who represented their clubs said they were happy with turnout of the event.
   ”I thought (it) was really helpful and the freshmen got to learn a lot information about the clubs,” senior Phani Paladugu, who was representing the Science Olympiad, said.
   Despite the relatively minor glitches, Ms. Welsh said that overall, the club fair was a success.
   ”I looked into the cafeteria and I felt like it was at least half empty every time I looked in there,” she said. “So, if half of the freshman class attended that is a lot of students.”
   Aparna, who was representing Amnesty International club, had similar views.
   ”I think it was a good idea because a lot of freshmen came (to our meeting) unlike last year when it was mostly sophomores,” she said.