High school students converged in the Kolver Library, which held rows of folding tables, and Club leaders stood behind each one for the second annual ClubFair on October 20 during advisory. Each of the more than 30 clubs present were allocated one half of a table along with a signup sheet, tri-fold boards, and other tabletop attractions. The room was buzzing as students walked around, conversed with group leaders, while indulging in hard candies from a variety of different clubs.

ClubFair is a way for Parker students to learn about club life. “The main purpose is so that clubs have access to getting a lot of new members,” Upper School Dean Christian Bielizna, who runs the Fair, said. “You want an incubator for the kinds of connections that could form between clubs, and it lifts the spirit, and energy gets up around clubs.”

Sophomore Anjali Chandel found it “fun,” but thought there were still imperfections with the layout. “I think ClubFair was way more cramped last year because it was upstairs on the fourth floor, but the library was definitely a better space. Maybe if we could access more of the library somehow that would be better because people could walk around and see all the options. Overall it was fun and it was high energy.”

The first ClubFair last year was a result of Bielizna’s speaking with Anna Amacher and English teacher Cory Zeller about how to encourage freshman engagement in club life. “I have quite a bit of experience with club life at other schools,” Bielizna said. “Club life in general to me here at Parker seems to be pretty loose. And that can be a good thing. We want to preserve the aspects that are loose and free-forming and allow for easy engagement and involvement. However, I think clubs in general would be well served by some structure or process as a scaffolding to build on.”

37 total clubs have declared themselves active for the 2017-2018 academic year by way of filing an approved club charter. “For the vast majority of clubs at Parker, it behooves them to do a think- through, know what they want to accomplish, and know they have the support of the school on a personal and club-wide level,” Bielizna said. “It does them good to become official.” According to Bielizna, official club recognition will mean colleges can verify students’ participation and will lead to the ability to grant clubs benefits that otherwise would not exist.

Sophomore Jared Saef sees the benefit in officially recognizing clubs. “For people that are only doing clubs for the college resume, I think this will help because it will make people dedicated to the club because they’ll have to do documentation and list their agenda,” Saef said, “and I think that’s helpful because by doing this, it filters the people who only want to do it for college and keeps the people who want to be part of the club.”

Since last year’s formation of ClubFair, Bielizna has had students checking in with club heads, a uniform list of clubs has been created, and charters, and club registration forms are in the upper school for club leaders. The continued regulation and attention to club life, Bielizna says, has led to a more organized and generally better experience. “With organization, we’re seeing how much students are attending, how many are attending,” Bielizna said. “There is a clear and current understanding.”

The two organizations behind club life are The Club Recognition Board (CRB), which is made up of five students and is the “approval body” of Parker clubs, and The Parker Organization of Clubs and Activities (POCA), which consists of six students and oversees general club life, according to Bielizna. CRB is a subset of POCA, which consists of the most dedicated club leaders. “Club presidents will sit before POCA having written their club charter ,” Bielizna said, “and they will be either approved, deferred, or denied, denied being very rare.” CRB also works in close contact with club members to be a resource for club leaders.

Bielizna is optimistic about the future of club life at Parker. Bielizna said, “Down the road, this is all building up, getting folks used to the idea, putting in more effective processes in place over time.”