Clubs are an integral part of a student’s high school experience, but with the campus still closed and teachers switching to online learning, ASB’s Community Link (CLink) Commission has developed a plan for clubs and club info week to be hosted online.

Before the school shifted to distance learning, students would regularly attend club meetings during brunch, lunch or after school. Through activities and events, students not only acquire valuable skills, cultivate their passions and create memories but also bond with friends and meet new people with similar interests. From art projects to community service, clubs have greatly enriched students’ campus life. 

“Clubs promote student diversity and interests and get rid of elitism and exclusivity,” said senior Pranav Chittharanjan, President of Film, Virtuosity and Photography clubs. “It really opens the doors for anyone’s interests.”

However, this year poses new challenges to clubs. Club officers have to overcome several difficulties in order to adapt to the new distance learning schedule, conduct online meetings and, most importantly, maintain member engagement.

“The main challenge with keeping up member engagement is two-fold,” said junior and Science club Vice President William Huang. “First, fewer members are likely to attend meetings because a lack of a physical space makes clubs feel less personal and less comfortable. Secondly, clubs need to be able to hold on to the attention of our members for the entire duration of the meeting because the exit to a meeting is just a click away.”

Similarly, for clubs like Computer Science (CS) club, virtual meetings also limit activities that can be done during club meetings. Live demonstrations during CS club meetings will be replaced by slide-show presentations and screen-shared coding demonstrations. Interactive programming activities that the Machine Learning (ML) club planned prior to school closure have been replaced with pre-recorded videos.

“Members can control the pace that they go through the content, but they have less opportunities to socialize or interact with the other members and the officers,” said senior and ML club President Claire Tang.

Although there are difficulties that accompany online club meetings, clubs will have more space for members, and members will not have to worry about getting the best seats.

“In the past, some people were disappointed when they couldn’t find a seat near their friends, but this won’t happen during virtual meetings,” said senior and Marine Wildlife Club President Carol Gao. “Everyone can have the same access to the presentation and screens. Member experience won’t depend on getting there earlier and saving the best seats anymore.”

In addition to a major reorganization of how clubs will function, Club Info Day has also changed and will now be Club Info Week; clubs, officers and members can post on social media through their respective accounts to promote their clubs. Interest clubs will be able to promote on Monday Sept. 8 and Tuesday Sept. 9. Service clubs will have their day on Wednesday Sept. 10. Competition clubs’ promotional day will be on Thursday Sep. 11. CLink will also post promotional videos created by clubs on Youtube and the Lynbrook ASB website. 

Last year, students walked around booths, signing up for clubs and marveling at unique club posters. This year, students can watch clubs’ promotional videos on the ASB website. Freshmen will also watch some club promotional videos during their literature classes, further encouraging them to join clubs. Students will be able to sign up for clubs on the ASB website through a Google Form.

“One of [CLink’s] biggest struggles was just coming up with a way to reinvent club info day because there’s a certain amount of hype and excitement for freshmen that’s really hard to recreate online,” said senior Vijaya Kukutla, a member of the CLink commission.

Although clubs may struggle to appeal to students due to the online learning environment, CLink has created a robust solution that allows clubs to meet online during lunch. On top of that, club officers are working hard to modify their content in order to continue engaging members. Look forward to learning about what each club has to offer in the upcoming weeks!