How to Start a Club at Midwood
Ani Kuke preps her slides ready for an AHA club meeting.
By NILUFAR HALIMOVA and MALAK ABDELRASOUL
On November 15, Mr. Larry Kolotkin emailed out an updated club list for Midwood’s 2021-2022 school year, boasting over fifty clubs open to the student body. Though not quite at pre-Covid numbers, the list shows how Midwood is bouncing back from a remote year, and how the school takes pride in students’ ability to create new clubs.
To create a club or revive an old one, the place to start is the office of Mr. Kolotkin, the Coordinator of Student Affairs, in Room 417. Make sure you arrive with an original idea.
“The club has to be unique,” said Mr. Kolotkin. “It cannot be similar to any other club we have at Midwood. If there are similar clubs, the population of students will get split, there will be fewer kids in each club, and the club will likely dissolve.”
You must name your club president, vice president, and faculty advisor in your initial club request. To keep your club rolling post-graduation so it doesn’t fall into the dormant pile, select students for leadership positions who are committed to keeping the club legacy alive. Sarah Sheikh ‘23, the president of the Muslim Student Association, which she revived in September, has Rikza Fatima, a sophomore, as vice president. “Once I graduate, she will take my place,” Sheikh said.
Be sure to ask a teacher who will be committed to your club to advise it. “Get a teacher you are comfortable with,” said junior Sawyer Wizemann, who revived the Midwood Coding Club (formerly Girls Who Code) in 2019. Make sure it’s “an advisor you can trust -- someone that you think you can rely on,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what they teach, they just need to be interested in the club.”
A key component of an extraordinary club is student engagement. You need at least 15 kids in the club, and in order for students to get service credits, they need to attend club meets for at least a month. Mr. Kolotkin suggests that club leadership have activities planned every week “to keep students interested and keep them coming.” So before you propose your club, come up with several meetings’ worth of activities first.
Don’t expect it to be easy! Ani Kuke ‘22, the co-founder and Co-President of the American Heart Association (AHA) Club needed multiple attempts to get her club approved, she said. The issue was differentiating it enough from other clubs. [Disclosure: Ani Kuke is a staff member for the Argus.]
It’s easier to revive a former club than start one from scratch. Mr. Kolotkin suggests that students “look for clubs that are inactive and then restart them because those clubs have been around Midwood for a long time. It's just that they never got passed down.”
Several once-dormant clubs have been revived in the last four years, including the aforementioned Muslim Student Association. “It’s was one of the few clubs that represent the religion of Islam, and I think people should learn more about it rather than simply visiting the mosques and reading the Quran,” said Sheikh. “There are more elements of the culture that are worth knowing.”
Wizemann had a passion for coding in her old school when nobody shared her interest. But at Midwood, she saw clubs as an opportunity to chase after what she had always wanted to do.
Ifaz Howlander shared a similar story. “I wanted to spread my interest in chess across Midwood,” the senior said. “I wanted to have a chess team to expand chess to other people, to help them get good at it, and have Midwood make a name for itself in chess.”
Above all, remember that a club is a commitment. “Try to make sure you are not personally overbooked with the club,” said Wizemann. “Make sure you have time to dedicate to it.”
“The process [of reviving a club] was challenging,” Sheikh said. “Luckily, I had access to the social media of previous MSA leaders, and I got to work my way around the club with their help. I kept faith in believing that this is worthwhile. And it is!”
If you have an original club idea, drop by Mr. Kolotkin’s office in Room 417 any period except 7th and 8th. The student government is also open to helping students with new club ideas, so reach out to them if you need more guidance.