Ready, Set, Go! Welcome to the buzz of the Secondary Club Recruitment Fair! Picture yourself in the MPH where tables and students line every bit of the perimeter walls ready to welcome you to a plethora of interests and activities that you could choose to enhance your daily school experience.
Are you artsy...musical…science-minded…love to write…have a heart for philanthropy? All of the above!? Co-curricular Activities (CCAs) are designed to support learning in the classrooms, bringing opportunities for real-world experiences that you can pursue in creative ways with friends and like-minded classmates They also open up new areas of interest and give you a more well-rounded experience as you have an impact on our community!
But, boy, it sure is noisy in here! What’s that…an entrepreneurs club? Hmmm, and over there is the yearbook club! Wow! You can learn MMA, too?! Ah, but didn’t you always want to do something for people in the wider community…maybe you should join the Junior Red Cross or Homebuilders Club. Can you really see yourself working on poverty projects overseas? Sure you can!
Do you get the picture? That was the scene that our students experienced on September 17 during the annual Secondary Club Recruitment Fair. Leaders from 36 clubs vied for the attention of other secondary students, with the aim of having them participate in any number of activities. At NIS, students are expected to put into action their visualization of what kind of activities they would like to impact their community. And if it doesn’t exist, they are encouraged to figure out how to create it!
And create, they do. The variety of clubs at NIS find students having an impact on their school, local, or national community - and out into the wider world. This could be providing tutoring support for students, or teaching their home language to their younger primary classmates to raise funds, and volunteering for a global NGO working in far-flung areas like rural Cambodia or Vietnam. Nagoya Action Heroes works to make sure every student can celebrate their individuality, while GIN (Global Issues Network) focuses on the big questions (and their solutions!) of our current time. Zero Stress Global aims to improve the Mental Health of students and staff and TED talks give students a chance to tackle big questions while perfecting their public speaking skills.
This is just a small example of the choices available this year, and more than ever, the goal is to get as many students involved in CCAs as possible. The aim is to nurture more leadership and mentoring opportunities by creating clubs and activities that involve all Secondary students, moving away from a model that had middle school students in certain clubs and high school students in others, adding another dimension to the positive outcomes of a strong CCA line-up. And though the interests and focuses are varied, they all have one thing in common…they have a BIG IMPACT on both the students and their communities.
"Our clubs are the heart of our school community, playing a vital role in promoting leadership, creativity, and a sense of belonging among students.” says Minandi Zandberg, our Departmental Learning Leader for Co-Curricular Activities. “We believe that each student has unique interests and talents, and we encourage everyone to explore those passions. By getting involved, students can not only develop their skills but also make a positive impact on others and the community as a whole. It was great to see so many excited students and to feel their passion for having an impact!"