During the beginning of the Severna Park High School (SPHS) year, clubs were working to find a way to keep meeting in the new virtual environment. Teachers have also been required to sponsor or co sponsor at least one club to help keep clubs active. 

At the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, SPHS went virtual and continued holding clubs during the school day in between classes. With time in between classes for clubs to meet, the student performance coach Paige Chang said there was a large increase in students attending these sessions. 

“Maybe this was because students wanted a connection to the school,” Chang said. “Or maybe it is because they had time now that it was during the school day.”

Even with more students attending clubs, the social aspects of clubs haven’t been as easy to replicate in the virtual environment. This makes it harder for students to replicate the social aspects of school they were already missing out on.

“It has been more challenging to ‘break the ice’,” the photography club adviser and teacher sponsor Anne McIntyre said.

However, many clubs have still grown in the virtual environment despite these challenges. Students are still gravitating towards favorites like Sci- Fi club and Key club. Before the school year even started, several newer clubs had been worried if they could continue meeting, but ultimately were able to continue and grow even bigger.

“It’s a hard thing to do,” student lead of the Creative Writing Club Luke Zavakos said, “But I’m glad that it’s going well.”

Nonetheless, as the school year went on and students adjusted to both virtual learning and its schedule, clubs became a common place for students to still be active in their school. The organized club time integrated into the school day, easy to access virtual meetings, and the necessary outlet for safe social gatherings has driven clubs to stay active in the virtual environment. As the school transitions into hybrid, there are sure to be more ways the clubs evolve to keep their members active.

“Whatever reason, it is awesome the number of students that have found a club that they enjoy,” Chang said.