Every year Niles West holds an involvement fair for its students. The goal of this event: inform students, especially ones new to the school, about all the clubs around the school and hopefully encourage them to join some. The fair is meant to involve more students in the school’s community, and if that takes subtle bribes, aka candy, so be it! However, like all things, some minor tweaks could be made to make the fair even better.

Imagine students hurriedly rushing outside during their lunch periods to see what new clubs and opportunities are in store for them in the courtyard. But they stop dead in their tracks. Where to begin? What clubs should be checked out first, academic ones or crafty ones?  How is anyone supposed to see all of the clubs in just 45 minutes? Instead of being excited to check out new programs, students are more concerned about not being lost in the crowd. To solve some of the hassles of having to practically crowd surf to find a club they are remotely interested in, some students create regiments of which clubs they want to see and when. But could this “remedy” create another problem in itself? If students are so concerned about what specific clubs they have to see will they even notice other wonderful clubs that would be perfect for them? 

The solution: have multiple days for the involvement fair. For example, they could be split up over a week and each day could revolve around a different genre of club. Not only would this allow students to be able to focus more on clubs, it would also help them find specific clubs; it would be easier, more efficient and less crowded for students. Students that are not looking for an academic club, for instance, don’t have to go to the day specifically reserved for that category. It would lessen the crowds and make everything much more organized. You may say to yourself, “What if they don’t notice a club suited for them?” because they only go to the days that are accumulated for the clubs they are specifically interested in? This fair won’t take any chances away from students and those ‘diamond in the rough’ clubs will still be there! Students just have to be more open-minded about what clubs they want to join instead of depending on the off chance they accidentally bump into it.

Splitting up the fair will allow students to have a little more space to breathe, explore, and interact with clubs. It would also allow students in multiple clubs to participate in more of their extracurricular activities. Lastly, it would spread the involvement fair cheer across the week and could make for some pretty fun alliterative titles.