Archer’s courtyard was filled with colorful posters, a variety of treats and smiling club leaders welcoming potential club members to their tables during lunchtime on Sept. 24. The annual club fair marks the start of affinity, alliance and advocacy groups and interest clubs for this school year.

During the fair, club leaders set up stations with posters, club information and treats at designated tables where students could fill out sign up sheets. Students have a variety of interest clubs to choose from, such as ones about books, baking and robotics.. Additionally, students can join different affinity and alliance groups, such as the Black Student Union (BSU), Hermanas Unidas or Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA).

Dean of Student Life, Equity and Inclusion Samantha Hazell-O’Brien said clubs are an integral part of every school community.  

“Clubs are the places where you find your people [and] where the lifelong friends are made because [of the] shared interest,” Hazell-O’Brien said. “You can let your guard down even more than you would in class.”

A change to this year’s club format is that certain clubs are now only open to either upper schoolers or middle schoolers — with some exceptions, such as affinity and alliance clubs that can be offered to both. This change reflects the communities varying vaccination status as some middle schoolers remain unvaccinated due to age regulations. Additionally, in this year’s club fair, the upper and middle school visited the fair at separate times to follow COVID-19 protocols. 

“We are going to have all middle school eat lunch first, then go to the club fair and have all upper school go to the club fair first, and then eat lunch,” Hazell-O’Brien said. “This year [was] the first where we shared the time and [had] people visit on a rotation to make sure we [kept] the unvaccinated students safe in their cohort as much as possible.”

For this school, the supervision requirements for clubs changed. Unlike middle school clubs, upper school interest clubs will no longer need a faculty advisor, but clubs regarding affinity, alliance and advocacy will still need one. 

“Upper schoolers already have that interest, and they know what they want to pursue for that club — they know what their mission is,” Hazell-O’Brien said. “The affinity, alliance and advocacy groups have to have a faculty advisor because you get into some topics of identity and are going to have drives and fundraisers.”

Junior Samantha Garibaldi, who is on the executive board of Hermanas Unidas and is starting a financial literacy club this year, said that the club fair is an opportunity to participate in groups and gain leadership skills. 

“I [always look] forward to networking with students from different grades and just talking to them about the club and [trying] to get them interested,” Garibaldi said. “Especially helping them find a space where they can be comfortable.”

Garibaldi added that she is starting a financial literacy club to give an opportunity to students to learn about topics that are not normally taught or talked about frequently to young people.

“I think that [financial literacy] is a very important topic in people’s lives and it’s important to learn since it’s not usually taught,” Garibaldi said. “Clubs can serve as a way for people to actually learn something new.” 

Sophomore Alejandra Cortes, who is a leader on Archer’s InvenTeam, stated that in a club, it’s important to have trust and develop activities that won’t leave people out. 

“In InvenTeam, we need [to be able] to trust each other to get everything done ,and you also have to trust yourself,” Cortes said. “Our main approach as a club [is to] have a diverse group of activities that people can all participate in.” 

After a year and a half of online learning, Hazell-O’Brien said that she hopes clubs can experience authentic connection.

“After having so many months of remote learning, it was difficult to build connections with people,” Hazell-O’Brien said. “I want them to reprieve in a club where they can go and be another part of themselves. Whatever someone needs, I hope they can find it in a club here at Archer.”