By Connor Hawthorne, Staff Writer
River Hill High School is home to a wide variety of clubs, from more well-known and popular clubs with many students to some more obscure and niche clubs. These smaller clubs may not have the same level of recognition as their larger counterparts, but they offer unique experiences and opportunities for students who are willing to seek them out.
Addyson Miller, a junior, is involved with two such clubs: the Hawk Connection Club and the Key Club. The Hawks Connections Club is focused on helping new students acclimate to the school. Unlike the more prominent Hawks on the Rise, which only helps freshmen, this club focuses on incoming students of all grades.
The Key Club, on the other hand, is a service based club that focuses on organizing events to help people in the River Hill community and beyond. Addyson explains how “We work with other clubs, bring out a fun environment and help people.” Addyson also notes that having such a small club can be challenging at times, since “these clubs aren’t very big, our sponsor for the key club just left the school so we’re working on finding a new sponsor.”
Charan Bala, a sophomore, recently started a new club at River Hill: the Poetry Club. Although the club’s membership is limited so far, Charan is passionate about poetry and believes that the club has potential to grow. He explains that “we just write poetry. We’ve done a couple of poems we’ve put up on the English board outside Mrs Schultz’s room.” He explains that his inspiration for starting the club came from his experience at a poetry event. “I did this poetry slam last year, and I thought it was a lot of fun, so I wanted to introduce poetry to River Hill.” Charan is also involved with other smaller clubs such as the Debate Club and Academic Bowl, both of which may not be very well known but offer unique opportunities for students who are willing to try something new.
Addyson and Charan explain the benefits of being involved in smaller clubs. With fewer members, these clubs offer a more personal and tight-knit community where students can get to know each other better. They also provide opportunities to explore interests and have leadership roles that may not be available in larger clubs. Charan explains that “There are definitely advantages to having a smaller club, in academic bowl we’re super tight knit, it just makes it a lot more personal and we know each other a lot better than larger clubs.” Addyson agrees with him, adding that “everyone knows each other more and it’s easier to plan.”
Clubs are also a great way to become involved in the River Hill community. While smaller clubs may not have the membership and recognition as some of the larger clubs, they offer unique experiences to the students willing to join. They’re also a great way to make friends and get involved due to the smaller membership and camaraderie provided by the smaller clubs. Addyson advises students looking to be more active to “get involved in as many clubs as they can, obviously you can’t go to every club, but it’s a good way to make friends.” So the next time you think about joining a club, why not try some of the more obscure options? You never know what unique interests you might discover.