The 2022-2023 school year is in full swing at PMHS, and the diverse array of clubs available to students has continued to grow as the year. During the annual club fair on October 6, a variety of newly formed clubs had the opportunity to showcase their unique qualities while attempting to attract members.

“I started the Psychology Club to give students a better understanding of the subject,”  said Adriana Craig, junior and founder of the Psychology Club. “The club aims to introduce topics in psychology while also researching and conducting psychological experiments. We also plan on having fundraisers for mental health organizations in the future!” 

New clubs, like Craig’s, help to keep students involved in afterschool activities, which are vital to our school community as they provide a platform for students to explore and grow their interests. By providing students with a place to traverse topics that may not have had dedicated clubs, new clubs keep students engaged while also providing an environment to discuss innovative topics and issues. 

New clubs are also excellent environments to meet other students with similar interests and make new friends. Being part of a club often feels like being part of a family, especially when all the members are passionate about something that brings them together. Student leaders, like sophomore Andrew Woodward, founder of Retro Video Games Club help to further that kind of environment and build a community.

“Although we really haven’t had a lot of people come to our meetings yet, we had a new person join and he really seemed to enjoy the club,” said Woodward. “It is nice to see that someone is interested in this and seems to enjoy my club as well! It feels very heartwarming.”

Club leaders and founders put lots of time and effort into making that experience as enjoyable as possible, and they often face challenges. Isaac Lief, a junior and cofounder of Debate Club with junior Ben Koff, struggled with forming their club at first.

“Starting a new club has a plethora of challenging and exciting issues,” said Lief. “Firstly and most importantly, as a club leader, our goal is to get the word around to get a solid group of students at meetings. We are achieving as a team by spreading the word through social media, flyers, and word of mouth. Once we build a group of people, we hope to grow the club with far-reaching school-wide events, incentives for attendance, and leadership opportunities.” 

New clubs and their leaders, despite vast differences in subject matter, all accomplish a similar goal – contributing to the continuation of our sprawling and diverse school community. Clubs make up a large part of what it means to be a PMHS student, which is something everyone from grades 9-12 can take pride in.