I feel that Robinson lacks a certain sense of community and warmth found in other public high schools. We don’t have as many opportunities to non-academically inclined and see people at school we usually wouldn’t, because of the traditional, IB isolation. Although there are multiple factors that complete this unsociability, I think one of the major contributions is our shortage of after-school clubs. The few we do have, are partially exclusive or poorly advertised.
At Robinson, we have sanctioned club days, where we take time away from academic time to visit the different clubs we’ve signed up for in the beginning of the year. There is one day held each month, hardly enough time to immerse yourself into the club and fully socialize with everyone interested in the group. There are other Hillsborough County public schools that have these days, but they supplement this with many more after-school clubs than we do.
The clubs are student-run with teacher sponsors there to supervise. This causes a lack of activity and participation in each club, because the students aren’t as dedicated to fully preparing lessons or projects. Some do truly care, but as a mass majority not enough do to validate having a day set aside just for the day.
As a student, to leave each class, you’re supposed to have club cards to go to each club. Many kids disregard this rule and either don’t check into their classrooms or go to their friend’s clubs which they’re not signed up for. This creates the idea that misconduct such as skipping class is okay. I’m all for a break from academics, but when it generates dishonesty, I don’t think it’s worth it.
Another issue is that the school doesn’t classify the day as “non-academic,” so some teachers continue teaching. This means students are now behind on school because they skipped class. This causes many people who did sign up for clubs, to not attend because they don’t want to miss given work or lessons. Many teachers also give tests on club day, which also prevents people from being able to attend clubs. Some kids go to their club and don’t check in with their teacher to purposefully avoid the tests.
To solve this issue, I think all clubs should be after school, and have more teacher/adult involvement. There are select few clubs currently that are run after-school and I think all the student attendees would be able to attest to the fact that there’s more community and unity present in those clubs. It’s difficult to establish friendships when you only see people once every month for less than an hour.
Although this would cause a major decline in student participation, it would help eliminate the people who don’t really care and just want to skip class. Clubs with people who are passionate and dedicated to the topic will bring more efficiency. Although this would create a problem of kids who live far away not being able to engage in clubs, they could just stay after school or go across teh street until their club starts. There’s also an understanding that many students have busy schedules with Band, Orchestra and JROTC, but I know of people who are able to balance this and forfeit some time in their activities to attend clubs.
I think the school established club day with only good intentions, but in reality, its lack of productivity and strict regulation has diminished everyone’s club experiences. We can start the journey to restoration by making them after-school.
