Extracurricular activities and clubs are a big part of a high school student’s life and finding a path toward college or life after high school.
In Waynesboro, William Perry Elementary School is introducing students early to extracurriculars with Club Day, which is usually held the last day of each month during the school year.
Waynesboro School Board received a presentation on Club Day at its regular meeting on November 12, followed by an update from Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Cassell.
According to Lindsey Britt, a teacher at William Perry Elementary, 10 clubs were created from interest surveys taken by students. Clubs include Harry Potter, Music, STEAM, World Cultures, 24Club, Board Games, Health and Athletics, Photography, Wilderness Explorers and Young Artists.
“At William Perry, it’s offered to all kids in grades second through fifth grade,” Britt said of Club Day. “It’s their extracurricular activities, but we do them during the school day. So, for an hour, usually on the last Friday of each month, we regroup everyone.”
For the 2024-2025 school year, for the first time as request3d by students, each student who participated will have the opportunity to pick a first semester and a second semester club so that they can experience more club options.
The biggest club is STEAM with 52 students, said Brandon Poole, William Perry Elementary school counselor, in which they complete various challenges, such as an egg drop and pumpkin launches.
An advantage of Club Day is opportunities for older students to exercise leadership skills with younger students.
Club Day promotes cross-grade interaction among students, increases student engagement and decreases behavior issues, according to Poole.
Britt said that the 24 Club, which gives students opportunities to perform subtraction, addition, multiplication and division exercises, has 18 members. Ten students are in the Photography Club, which is a new club for the school year.
In his monthly update, Cassell reported that the school system received nine or 10 proposals for phase II of renovations at Waynesboro High School. The top three proposals were invited to return to give oral presentations. Renovations will include a new gymnasium, locker room and athletics department for the high school, which was built in 1936.
The school system chose RRMM Architects, who were responsible for the new Buffalo Gap and Riverheads middle schools for Augusta County Schools and work at Valley Career & Technical Center. The school board will ratify the final contract with the company at its regular December meeting.
“We’re pretty excited,” Cassell said. “I think they had some kind of new and different ideas that were consistent with [staff ideas].”
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Rebecca Barnabi
