Club Day Promotion

I have now been at MacNeill for one month and am settling in to my new 'home'.  There are a few things that have really stood out to me over the past month.  Firstly, I am impressed by the dedication and involvement of the MacNeill staff and the time they devote to extra-curricular clubs and teams.  There is a strong connection between staff and students and a culture of mutual respect; I wonder if the strong sense of community has been built, in part, by the dedication of teachers who spend time with students outside the walls of the classroom.  

All school clubs and teams must have a staff sponsor in order to run.  This is all 'volunteer' work that our teachers do outside of regular instructional time and, in many cases, teachers invest hundreds of hours supporting, mentoring and facilitating students clubs.  Based on district statistics from last year, MacNeill had more staff involved in extra-curricular activities than any other Richmond school. This is a statistic that we are very proud of!  Thank you to our staff for all of the extra things you do to make MacNeill such a great place!  

Our Club Day was organized by Student Council with the purpose of showcasing the clubs that are available for students in Gr. 8-12.  The students involved in each club set up a booth in the lounge to advertise what the club is about.  Some clubs had signs, some had music, others had information posters or handouts, and a few had videos from last year.  They all had students behind their booth to meet with and talk to other interested students.  Students were called out of advisory class by grade to walk around the lounge and peruse all the offerings.  There were Student Council members using a microphone to explain and facilitate the event.  

MacNeill Club Day

It was especially great to see the peer relationships as students were collaborating to promote their club. They had sign-up sheets available at each booth, and the number of names that were being collected of interested students impressed me.  Many clubs had multiple pages of names of students who were interested in joining the club.  Some clubs meet before school, at break or lunch, or after school, and all students are welcome and encouraged to join.

Here are some of the clubs available for students:

     -Student Council               

     -Animal Rescue Club

     -First Responders (First Aid) Club

     -Grad Committee

     -Art Club

     -Home Economics Culinary Club

     -Heart Circle

     -Ski Club

     -Amica Club (Friendship, Multicultural Diversity, Promote Tolerance)

     -The Green Team

     -Yearbook DVD Club

     -AZNEC (Asian Entertainment Club)

     -Raven Review (newspaper) Club
     -Raven Readers
     -30 Hour Famine