With over 70 clubs, Arcadia High School (AHS) held its annual Club Takeover on Feb. 24 to 25 in the S-Building courtyard during lunch, offering students the opportunity to explore the variety of clubs AHS has to offer.
Booths were displayed with decorative trifolds and snacks while officers from clubs passed out flyers and spoke about their club’s purpose to attract students to sign-up.
The first day of Club Takeover was for art, service, and interest clubs. There were various clubs relating to art, including origami, anime, photography, and film. Service clubs included Arcadia Interact, UNICEF, Evergreen, and Red Cross. Interest clubs focused around unique hobbies and interests, such as Healthy Eating Initiative, Food Science, Tabletop, and Music Makes Miracles club.
“A lot of things at AHS are really stressful and heavy on academics, but Origami club is a place where you can just relax and have fun by learning a new craft,” said senior Zachary Sakti, president of Origami Club.
Many clubs’ purposes overlap between service and interest; a perfect example of that is the Origami club. “A lot of the origami on our tri-fold are those people have made in class, and we actually fold and donate those exact origamis to Arcadia USC hospital. That’s also why we chose to fold butterflies and cranes,” said Sakti.
Club Takeover “felt really immersive!” said Sakti. “Everyone was super interactive, and it was great to see friends stop by, but also meet new people who were interested in joining the club. When making the boards, I let the origami speak for itself. Origami is an art form that encourages creativity, and we used all sorts of shapes, colors, and sizes of paper to make the boards as unique as they can be so they attract students walking by!”
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is a branch of the United Nations, an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, that works to advocate and fundraise for children who suffer from vaccine shortages, starvation, and proper education. They also focus on helping the environment and mental health.
“We do a lot of environmental volunteer work,” said junior Clinton Truong, president of UNICEF. “In fact, last Saturday, we volunteered with Amigos de Los Rios at Monrovia High School to plant native trees to create sustainable habitats in our community.”
The second day of Club Takeover consisted of STEM and civics clubs. There were STEM clubs ranging from Astrophysics to American Computer Science League (ACSL) to Pre-Med Club, all of which revolved around science and health topics. Civics clubs, varying from Arcadia Young Democrats, Financial Literacy, and Model United Nations, engaged students with real-world knowledge to promote education and interest in aspects of politics, finance, law, and more.
“Astrophysics club is fun because you get to choose your own adventure–whether you just want to stay more surface level and get to know more astronomy or really delve deep into the actual physics and go compete in it,” said senior Emily Chien, president of Astrophysics Club.
“I signed up for the Astrophysics Club because I love astrophysics. Astronomy is something that I’ve really been interested in and loved for a long time, so when I discovered that there was an Astrophysics club, it was the perfect opportunity for me to actually learn what I want to do,” said sophomore Takeya Teng.
Another club featured during Club Takeover was Model UN, a club that “models” the United Nations. During meetings, they simulate UN conferences and each person represents a country to advocate for policies they want.
In order to build the tri-fold, senior William Pan utilized what he believes to be the most important themes that Model UN members consider when choosing to join the club, which are awards, conferences, and having fun.
“Inside the trifold, there are multiple pictures, depicting our strong team-work used to win awards and build strong bonds and friendships. Outside the trifold, there are mini-flags of different countries, which helps us pop-out from other clubs. We even have a huge flag that we can wave around to attract students,” said senior William Pan, public relations officer of Model UN.
In the end, Club Takeover was an exciting success. Students who may have missed Clubs Day or wanted to explore new interests were able to join a variety of newly chartered and returning clubs. Another Clubs Takeover will feature Culture and Diversity Clubs on Mar. 7.
