Many students might get caught up in the monotonous life of high school, but students might not know that there is a way to socialize and wind down every Thursday at Social Club.
Though it is right under many students’ noses, Social Club provides engaging and fun activities for students every Thursday at GlenOak High school.
“So, Mrs. Hershberger, probably five or six years ago, decided that she wanted to start a social club and at that point it was only once a month and we know that the kids liked it so much and we had so many different ideas of meeting nine times a year didn’t seem to be enough,” teacher Bambi Yingling said.
Hershberger along with Yingling started social club as a way to get students more involved in the community at GlenOak, but also as a way to learn social skills and interact with people they might not have in other situations.
Every week Hershberger, Yingling, and others lead social club with new and exciting activities for the students that attend to try out and enjoy.
“… So, really, it’s me, Mrs. Hershberger, Mrs. Metry, Katherine Dockus and Sophia DiMarzio. We all kind of share and lead it together,” Yingling said.
Students who are involved in Teacher Pathways level I and II will volunteer to help run social club throughout the year, which provides learning opportunities for not only the attendees, but also for the students who might not attend or even know about social club prior to volunteering.
“I loved helping at social club, all the kids in there are so sweet. I loved being able to learn about each kid and why they go to social club,” sophomore Carlee Bond said.
Social club provides a unique opportunity for every student at GlenOak to open up and learn more about the people who they are going to school with every day. It gives students who would normally not interact with their peers daily a place to come out of their shell more.
“I definitely think when you have students who come back and are excited to be there, they kind of sit on the outskirts on the first year and then the second year, we had one student come back and was like ‘You know, I might not love it, but I really look forward to it,” Yingling said.
