Photo Credit: Katherine Krinsky
Club rush at CK McClatchy High School started for the 2020 school year. For the event, CK McClatchy High School posted multiple links on their school website. These links take you to pages that include information about clubs, how to join and when meetings take place.
Because of Covid-19, the only way to participate in clubs this year is to do so virtually. One of the links on the school website is called the “virtual quad.” There, you can watch one to five minute videos about each of the clubs CK McClatchy has to offer. Each of the videos contain club members talking about what students can do in their club.
Without the ability to talk to students in person, clubs had to find new ways to get students interested in joining. For example, the Model United Nations decided to portray America, China, Germany and New Zealand’s reactions to Covid-19 in a small skit.
The clubs that are participating in club rush this year include: SAT club, Queer- Straight Alliance, Poetry Club, Murder Club, Model United Nations, MESA, Mathletes, Life Skills, Key Club, Japanes Origami Club, Girls who Code, Girls Across the Globe, German Club, Feminist Coalition, Eco Club, Drama Club, Debate Club, California Scholarship Federation, Black Student Union, Australian Mathematics Competition, Asian Pacific Islander Student Association and Academic Decathalon.
Students can see when these clubs meet by clicking another link on the school website that sends students to the club meeting schedules.
Students can sign up for these clubs by clicking on the google form listed by the school website. On this form students should type out their names, email addresses and what clubs they’re interested in joining.
Once students show interest in a club by submitting a google form, club members will reach out through email.
This year, club meetings will happen through Zoom (the same way as online classes). Zoom information will be given to students who have shown interest in a club through the Remind app.
In an effort to show club rush from a club leader’s perspective, Model United Nations president, Harper Johnston (‘22) was interviewed.
When asked what the biggest struggle was when it came to recruiting new members this year, Johnston said, “Not everyone knows about the club rush, so we had to make our video creative to pull people in.”
The Model United Nations video showed different students portraying a previously researched country’s reaction to Covid-19. They did this by acting as these countries in a small skit.
While they tried to make their video creative, Johnston is still finding other ways to bring students into the club, saying, “I’ve convinced some of my friends to join. But I also had to reach out to other people that I knew were into politics.”
When Johnston was asked what part of Model United Nations will be affected most by Covid-19, Johnston replied, “I think the most important part is debating. Small online debates won’t be too bad, but larger scale conferences will be real funky.”
Black Student Union public relations person and secretary, Devin Freeman was also interviewed. “The purpose of BSU is to unify the black community at McClatchy and to help each other counteract the overt and covert racism experienced by the black student body,” Devin says.
Just like Model UN, BSU would typically recruit members through club rush at school. Because of the virus, BSU had to participate in the virtual club rush. Devin says that, “The biggest struggle came with just making people aware of our club. Some members of our club are normally reeled in by the flashy behavior we tend to go all out on at club rush. However, this year, club rush was much less anticipated”.
Getting the word out seems to be the biggest struggle for clubs this year. The virtual club rush can only recruit so many members.
Even with the virus spreading around, clubs like Model United Nations and Black Student Union have found ways around it. Club rush is still going on, and many clubs are still accepting new members. Covid-19 hasn’t stopped CK McClatchy Senior Highschool’s clubs from continuing on.