Once everyone has adjusted to the new school year, many students look for ways to get involved at school, pursue academic excellence, or simply have a little bit of fun after school before they take on the burden of homework. Clubs are common way that students seek to achieve these goals at school, and for the past several years the week-long club recruiting event known as Club Rush was held in October. This year the week of club rush is being pushed all the way back until the week of November 11th. This is a negative change for many reasons. Mostly, it robs clubs of time for meetings and activities. Clubs see the most attendance earliest in the year, so removing a month or more of potential meeting time ensures that both enrollment and ongoing attendance will drop steeply, as students find themselves being overwhelmed with schoolwork and family holiday responsibilities. 

Not only will attendance drop off sooner but the clubs that are centered around outdoor activities, such as SEAC or capture the flag club will have a very short window to spend time outdoors while the weather is still nice. 

“Our club only meets once a month, so we just have less meetings and hardly anyone comes when the weather gets cold so we basically miss half our season,” Capture the Flag Club captain Cannon Grangroth said. 

Although Club rush is later this year, the event usually takes place pretty late in the year regardless. This could be a factor in many people not being as involved with their school as the administration would like. 

“We started having meetings already but it is hard to get new members since we get most of them through the lunch meetings during the week,” Conspiracy Theory Club President Ethan Blume said. 

In my opinion, Club Rush should be held as early in the year as possible because it allows for more time for clubs to be active. This would allow students to better follow the idea of picking two ways to be involved at Highland. Also, when club heads have to miss school for the Club Rush events, it is often easier to make up work at the beginning of the year when the workload is still light. The earlier in the year that Club Rush is held, the more beneficial it is for everyone.