Overcrowded Clubs: What Should We Do?

78% percent of 52 students from middle school reported in a survey from February this year that they have been in an overcrowded club. How should the school act on it?

There are a lot of clubs that are possible for students in ZIS: from art clubs and competitive sports to non-competitive sports and even Battle of the Books. So how does the school decide which club is when? For example, there are more competitive clubs in the fall than in the winter season.

When interviewed, Mr. Hart, the school’s Athletic Director, said, "We need to do this because of both human resources and space resources." However, even if it is the best possibility, my survey shows that half of the students don't like this way of handling the crowded clubs. 

Survey:

50% of the students don’t like the way ZIS handles overcrowded clubs

"We try to balance all activities between sports, arts, theater, outdoors, competitive, non-competitive, fundraising club," he mentioned, "we have to work closely with other schools to ensure we have quality competition in what we offer. In addition, we need to consider faculty available to oversee clubs and have the knowledge to do so effectively.”

To make the crowded club no more then a bad dream, a new school is coming up. The school will include a new triple gym for tournaments and a kitchen for cooking. According to the school’s website, the new building will have a “new Makerspace that will be filled with physical tools, but also house the latest technology: 3D printers, computers with design software and router hubs.” This will provide more space and clubs for our over crowded clubs.

 "We are looking at changing group levels and what we can offer. The Makerspace area will ensure we can offer more STEM clubs, the kitchen means we can support clubs with fundraisers better and perhaps offer a cooking club." said Mr. Hart.

in addition to the interview, a survey with 56 students asked students what new clubs they wanted next year. The most popular answer was interior design and the most unpopular answers were gymnastics and cycling.

The new building is going to give a lot of opportunities that in the old school we didn’t have. This could mean that fewer clubs will be crowded and start solving the problem of crowded clubs.