Woodside sees a rush of new clubs for the 2021-2022 school year as clubs slowly hold their first meetings since the gap of virtual learning.
Motivated and determined to successfully leave Zoom club meetings behind, students start new clubs across campus with a variety of activities. Interests for everyone are covered with the newly started clubs ranging from Film Makers Club (Thursdays in E-7) to the Bookworms Club (E-1).
Bookworms Club President and Woodside sophomore, Michelle Haro, started her club to discuss books and push against the stigma towards enjoying reading.
“I didn’t speak about my interest in books because I didn’t have anybody who read books and people made it seem lame,” Haro said. “I want [members] to feel confident about their interests.”
She hopes members can meet similar people while discussing their opinions and feelings on books. Bookworm Club meets every other Friday in Mr. Mooring’s room, E-1. Also meeting Fridays are the Crochet Club in F-10 and the Fantasy Football Club in F-24.
The Veggie Cats Club meets every other Friday in Ms. Dice’s room and hopes to make Woodside more plant-based friendly. Veggie Cats Vice President, Emma Hite, hopes to create a place for vegans and those interested in the diet.
“All the other food clubs include meat and non-allergy-free options and we have options that anyone can eat,” Hite said.
The club hopes to share recipes and host potlucks; fundraising becomes essential for many new clubs. Woodside’s new Chinese Club also faces this problem; Advisor and Mandarin teacher, Yihui Xu, discusses her worries.
“We still haven’t gotten any information on how to fundraise… so we are still working on it,” Xu says.
However, she is hopeful they will overcome hurdles as she shares the club’s goals and aspirations for all members.
“It’s not necessary for [members] to be from this background, but they can enjoy and maybe share some of their opinions about this culture… if they have any questions we can answer them,” Xu said.
Xu stresses that everyone is welcome to join, and says the club will be focused on differentiating other East Asian cultures from Chinese by clearing the haze between cultures like Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and possibly American.
While clubs coming out of COVID-19 face some walls, they are hopeful to have a good year. Meet the Future Financial Strengths Club and MMH Club every other Monday, The Kpop Club every Tuesday, and the Fitness Club every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM.
Clubs are excited to finally welcome others with similar interests and embrace sharing activities face to face.
“I didn’t have anybody [else] who read books… I [made this club] because I want them to feel confident about their interests,” Haro said.
