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New Trier News

The student news site of New Trier High School

New Trier News

The student news site of New Trier High School

New Trier News

Making time for extracurricular activities

Extracurricular activities are famously known for teaching students important values like teamwork, cooperation, responsibility, and discipline. They also serve as ‘breathers’ in the hectic school schedule, but over the past ten years, fewer students are participating in more than one club.
Even with a wide variety of clubs being available, most students prefer to only commit themselves to one or two extracurricular activities.
Joining a team or participating in a school sport can be a different story, with an increased amount of dedication desired, students prefer to only focus on joining one. Playing a sport or getting involved in a club, both consume time.
A board report taken in 2010 indicated that at least 80 percent of New Trier students are involved in one extracurricular activity or more, and the statistics have been steadfast throughout the years.
Junior Julie Lawson said, “I’m only on the satirical newspaper club this year, last year I was on cross country and track.”
Some clubs require more commitment than others, Lawson explained, “Some clubs are more demanding than others like cereal club is probably less demanding than others.”
On occasions clubs can take a toll on a student’s regular school schedule as well. Senior Mackenzie Shannon said, “I’m involved in Erika’s Lighthouse so we do panel out of school which does eventually become a problem because I’m missing a lot of school for it.”
The position and level of involvement of a student pushes them to compromise with other activities. Senior Kanwal Ladhani, who is a board member in International Club, said, “International Club takes a lot more time than Indo-Pak club. For Indo-Pak club I’m only in a dance and I can choose when to participate.”
Student Activities Director Stacy Kolack explained, “There are no restrictions on the amount of clubs a student can participate in, except for things like cheerleading or dance team where you have to try out, other than that everything is very fluid. Eligibility specifications are only for club leaders or board members where we do maintain checks on their grade and track their school work.”
Senior Kelsey Choi, who’s involved with K-pop dance club, break dancing club, Korean club, and Amnesty International said, “I’m a leader in three of the clubs. To manage them I just have to plan out my time and my day, especially for dance club to prepare the choreographies. Clubs are demanding, but it was my choice, I had to drop AP biology.”
Sports necessitate an extra amount of time and dedication. Mackenzie, who participates in the swim team club, the water polo club, and is on the school water polo team, said, “all these activities take a huge ridiculous chunk out of my time. Many of the things I do are on the same day and the same time so I have to flip flop between them. During swim season I’m not able to do anything. My schedule gives me no time off. Clubs are not necessarily demanding, but sports in general are demanding. If clubs took less time it would be better.”
Lawson also agreed, “Clubs are less challenging than sports, because for sports you have to dedicate every day rather than once a week. You should be able to join more than one club, but for sports I think students should be limited to one.”
Ladhani who also is a Girl Scout and volunteers at North Shore hospital, mentioned her schedule, “International Club is usually 3 days a week, but we meet an extra day as well to get work done. I enjoy what I do and participating in International Club was to raise awareness and promote other cultures.”
Choi cautioned students, “You have to know what you’re getting into. I think students should be allowed to manage their own time even when it comes to sports, there should be no restriction.”
Junior Mark Snyder commented, “I play multiple sports, but only one per season. I don’t think it’s fair to either team to take on more than one sport per season.”
Soccer coach James Atwell said, “I think most adults are telling students to balance, but when there’s a school with so many opportunities and options, it’s like kids being brought to a buffet, everything looks good and they want to do it all.”
Many students do try to participate in extracurricular activities that appeal to colleges. Atwell explained, “Part of it is trying to look as attractive as possible to institutes they want to go to in the future.”
Research shows that there is a positive relationship in students who participate in a sport are less likely to get in trouble and more likely to reach higher achievements. Teachers try to encourage students to use their time wisely. Atwell said, “For this week, because it is tryout week, students are here from 6 in the morning to 8:30 at night, and regular weeks of the season they spend 2 hours every day after school. Extracurricular activities helps student learn about time management.”
The school is not the only one involved in handling students extracurricular activities community plays an importance on academics and athletics; students spending so much time on one thing can make them feel burned out.
Atwell said, “Kids would benefit if we pulled back a little bit, if it was mandated that practice couldn’t be more than an hour and a half, but the community would react very differently. There are expectations from the school and community for players. If the athletic department took a stand, the community would react very differently.”

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