Activities fair highlights diverse range of student involvement options [photo gallery]

Byline photo of Brayden Blackwell
Byline photo of Lyra Townsend
Brayden Blackwell and Lyra Townsend
Sep 3, 2024
Activities fair highlights diverse range of student involvement options [photo gallery]
Lyra Townsend

The Freshman Mentoring Program hosted its annual activities fair on Aug. 27. Over 35 student organizations and clubs were on-hand to showcase the school’s wide range of extracurriculars during lunch hours in the multi-purpose room.

The event, FMP coordinator, Mrs. Tara Pendleton said, aims to help students discover various opportunities available at Community.

“A lot of our students don’t know all the amazing things that we have available [or] the variety of things that we have available,” Pendleton said. “There’s pretty much a club or activity for almost every interest.”

The fair, Pendleton said, is one of her favorite days of the school year.

“You get to see a passion for so many different types of things,” she said. “It shows our diverse students.”

 

  • The event highlighted the school’s diverse extracurricular offerings– like the German, Spanish and French foriegn language clubs.

    Lyra Townsend
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  • Several social outreach clubs like Generation Connect and Best Buddies were on-hand. Generation Connect members connect with residents at a local assisted living facility, making monthly visits to spend time with residents making crafts, playing games and having conversations. For Grace Hertz spending time with senior citizens and hearing stories about their lives is especially meaningful. “I’ve lost a couple grandparents,” Hertz said. “I think [Genneration Connect visits] mean a lot to them because they don’t get to see their grandkids often,” Hertz said. “It’s just super wholesome.”

    Lyra Townsend
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  • Best Buddies is an international volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The club Sophia Hartke said focuses on making Community an inslusive place for the school’s students with special needs. Hartke’s “favorite thing,” she said, about the orignization are the relationships she has created through it.

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  • Academic clubs like Model U.N., Scholastic Bowl and Math team; and career and technical organizations like FBLA and HOSA had booths at the fair.

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  • Future Business Leaders of America. Nikitha Philip said, “is a business and leadership-based organization.” “We focus on helping students grow their leadership capabilities and become strong future business leaders.”

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  • Community also features cultural clubs like the Black Student Union, the Hispanic Heritage club and the Asian American Pacific Islander Culture club. The Black Student Union, Lexi Clark said, focuses on “bring[ing] people together to celebrate and learn about Black culture.”

    Lyra Townsend
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  • Cultural Cooking Club, Sahana Garapati said, “is all about making different dishes and learning from different cultures.”

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  • The fair included several organizations focused on student interests like programming, investing and card-playing.

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  • Avi Paleti shows off the Investment club booth to safery monitor Mr. Mike Triplett. “People nowadays,” Paleti said, “don’t have to be just nurses or just businessmen. They can also be investors”

    Lyra Townsend
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  • Kyan Wright, Ryan Tamm and Joe Honzel represented the E Sports team. The co-op with Normal West competes against other schools playing games like “Mario Cart 8,” “Rocket League,” “Super Smash Bros and “Apex Legends.”

    Lyra Townsend
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  • The Music Tech club offers students the opportunity to program, produce and create their own music.

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  • The fair also featured school-related organizations like Student Council and Theatre.

    Lyra Townsend
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