This year, many students and club advisors at RV have reported a general decrease in interest and involvement surrounding clubs and extracurricular activities.
This is not an RV specific issue; Cherry Hill East reported an increase in club creation and a decrease in club involvement this school year.
Even clubs that pride themselves on service – like National Honor Society – have seen a decrease in involvement. A member of NHS needs to obtain eight “points” by the end of the school year to remain an active member. As of March 3 this year, 32 of the 137 members (23%) had already gotten at least eight points. Last year, on March 14 2023, 74 of the 138 members (54%) had 8 or more points.
“We had difficulty trying to get people to sign up for all of the events. It has caused everyone to now be desperate for points towards the end of the year” says community service chair Ava Paolone.
NHS isn’t the only Honor Society with this issue. While French Honor Society didn’t have a point system last year, advisor Madame Heiba has observed a mild decrease in event attendance this year, most notably at the French Club Red and White Night events and at French Week organizing.
Science Honor Society appears to be the exception, with club president Neel Awsare saying club participation is “better than last year” because of the increased point opportunities.
“I gave more point opportunities than last year”, said Awsare. Unlike NHS, the point totals this year are higher than they were at this point last year, despite the club no longer awarding points for attending meetings.
Red and White Night this year was one of the least attended since the event’s revival after Covid. White team captain Ryan Stutzenburg says “poster paintings and I/E games before RAWN are more tailored to high school life before Covid” and that since Covid, poster painting attendance has steadily decreased each year. He also says that while the first RAWN after Covid nearly sold out, the past two years weren’t nearly as popular.
A potential explanation for this decrease could be RV’s Student Activity Fee. The advisors for many clubs at RV receive stipends – to pay for these stipends, students pay a $100 Activity Fee to participate in clubs. Beginning in the 2023-24 school year, students could no longer pay the fee with cash or check; the only way to pay the fee is online. This may be discouraging students from participating in extracurriculars that require them to pay the fee.
“I’m not paying 100 dollars to tryout for a sport” says senior Kalyan Davé, who had to pay the fee to tryout for RV’s golf team. “That’s like gambling”.
“I feel that a 100 dollar fee may discourage students from trying to get involved… especially if someone doesn’t just have 100 dollars to spend without knowing if they would like the activity” says senior Sydney Hay.
Clubs have already begun taking measures to improve club involvement. French and Italian Honor Society implemented point systems this year to track involvement in club activities. Club members must accrue 15 points by the end of the school year to be considered an “active member” – 20 for members that didn’t take Italian or French IV. Seniors who don’t earn all of their points won’t receive a cord at graduation and underclassmen who don’t earn all of their points will be removed from the club the next year. It remains to be seen if other clubs will adopt similar measures to encourage involvement.
