As the new school year begins, various new clubs have been chartered at Arcadia High School (AHS). Before Clubs Day, here’s a little peek into what clubs AHS students have brought to the AHS community. 

Global Changemakers

Global Changemakers meets every Tuesday in J-106 and is a club that addresses key sustainability challenges in our community. Their purpose is to make a positive impact on the environment and nurture sustainable practices within our students. 

“We created this club to tackle important environmental issues and encourage sustainability in our community. We were inspired by the need for practical solutions to problems like waste management, water scarcity, and energy use, and we wanted to involve others in making a meaningful difference,” club president sophomore Tyler Yeung said.

To attract students, Yeung and his officer team are planning hands-on and thought-provoking activities for students such as building solar lamps, making DIY water filters, experimenting with energy consumption, and creating hand-crank generators. There will also be more community events like tree planting and park cleanups.

Cantonese Culture Club

In the diverse and sophisticated community of AHS, it can prove difficult to find a group of accepting and like-minded people. A culture club here at AHS is the Cantonese Culture Club. Created by sophomores Anson Yip and Austin Lam, the Cantonese Culture Club strives to spread appreciation and understanding of Cantonese culture as well as preserving and sharing Cantonese heritage. The club meets every Thursday in room S-211, offering lessons of traditional Cantonese food, craft, culture and history.

Club representatives felt Cantonese culture was under-represented and not understood enough in the AHS community. 

“Our purpose is to provide AHS students with an understanding and appreciation of Cantonese culture, language, and traditions through a variety of cultural activities. ⁤⁤We aim to encourage active participation in cultural events, club meetings/activities, and/or in Cantonese traditions,” Yip stated when asked why he created the club

 “We decided to create this club because we feel as though Cantonese culture deserves more recognition and representation in our school. We want the Cantonese community and other students willing to learn about this culture to have a space to connect with their heritage. By creating this club, we hope to foster a sense of pride among those connected to Cantonese culture,” said Yip and Lam.

Improv Club

Improvisation is the act of creating or performing something without preparation. It stretches the imagination and allows people to put their creativity into action.

At AHS, Improv Club intends to inspire students to foster a passion for improv acting, public speaking, and communication. This club meets every Wednesday in C-110. 

“Since everything that’s performed is spontaneous, a relatively strong level of teamwork is required because we need to basically mind-read each other to work together,” said Improv Club president senior Catherine Pei. “I think with this, it brings together people from different backgrounds to create a complex story on stage, and overall helps with communication outside of the stage, and socializing with different people we meet in everyday life.”

Improv Club hopes to share their love for improv acting to anyone, even to those who have no experience in acting.

“We wanted to share our passion for improv to those in Arcadia High, and after participating in long-form improv workshops throughout the past year, we felt that there were a number of fun and engaging activities we could host in our club to teach improv and overall, have fun with it!” said Pei.

Throughout the year, Improv Club will be hosting presentations to teach the technical side of improv, and organizing engaging activities such as actually doing improv through mini-scenes.

Pei says, “It sounds intimidating, but honestly it’s really fun because no one is there to judge you at all, it’s all about having fun with each other on stage!”

Aside from AHS’ huge variety of service, culture, and arts clubs, there are also a number of clubs for students interested in fostering their mental discipline, logical reasoning, and mental rigor. 

Math Modeling Club

Math Modeling Club meets every Tuesday in J-212 and is a club that aims to educate AHS students on the practical side of mathematics through learning to apply math concepts to real-life problems.  

“Being an officer of the long-lasting Math Team myself, I’ve noticed the stereotypical definition of math simply being ‘hard competition problems’ or ‘getting A’s in Calculus BC class’ here in AHS,” said club president sophomore Gary Li. 

“This demonstrates our lack of understanding to not just handle derivatives or integrals on paper, but also use them to simplify our decisions and build our world better. Keeping this idea in mind, I was also inspired by my fellows who love to learn math but lack this opportunity to learn together,” he said.

Math Modeling Club plans to organize competitive and mind-provoking activities such as the International Math Modeling Challenge. The International Math Modeling Challenge is a contest for high school students interested in the applications of math. Contestants are challenged to solve a world issue by writing a paper within a week. The paper will include a math model, real-world dataset analysis, model validations, and other relevant information. This provides members an opportunity to experience, collaborate, and grow within the mathematical world!

The many clubs at AHS offer a valuable opportunity for students of all interest, race and gender to find a space to meet and interact with many students of the same culture, thoughts and passions. From the global changemakers to the Cantonese Culture Club, all students at AHS can find a place where they can forge personal relationships as well as finding a place where they belong. Be sure to be looking out for the many opportunities to find a variety of clubs catering to all types of students. (Mia Liu)