This article was submitted by Kennewick student David Ryther. David’s thoughtful insights contrast with opinions stated by school board president Dawn Adams to the Tri-City Herald in an article published Saturday, September 10.
As a senior at Kennewick High School and a member of several extracurricular activities, I can speak with certainty when I say that the school board’s decision to limit the privileges of non-curricular clubs is having a significantly negative impact on our students.
Perhaps one of the biggest upsets for academically ambitious students is the current risk of the National Honors Society suspending its activities for an indefinite period of time. The former advisor has already stepped down from her position, and understandably so, as the board has now restricted all non-curricular clubs from having paid advisors.
The other restrictions that the board has put on non-curricular clubs include disallowing them from having access to ASB funding accounts, and from using yearbooks, newspapers, and the public-address-system as a means of advertising. All of these restrictions are making our non-curricular clubs very difficult to function.
For example, fundraising is an integral part of the activities that Key Club performs, but without an ASB funding account, these fundraisers are no longer possible. And arguably the biggest challenge for any club is recruiting new members, but when the advertising rights of a club are reduced to a small bulletin board on some remote wall that no on bothers to glance at, that challenge increases tenfold.
I am an advocate of all extracurricular activities designed to get students more involved with their school and their community and I firmly believe that non-curricular clubs highly benefit the students who are members of them. Take Key Club for example. I cannot even think of a better organization for getting the youth of today to be interested in contributing their services to the community.
The Gay-Straight Alliance is another great example. Statistics have shown that LGBT students who can turn to a GSA for a comforting environment are less likely to attempt suicide. And what about National Honors Society? This is a club that any dean of college admissions would enjoy seeing on a student’s resume. And can’t that be said about all of these clubs?
Certainly there should be no argument that non-curricular clubs are disrupting academic achievement within the high schools. The restrictions on these clubs are harming our student body, and it is absolutely necessary that the board revisits and turns over the district’s club policies ASAP.
Follow this link to the Tri-City Herald article:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/09/10/1634793/kennewick-school-board-might-rethink.html
David-
Thanks for your thoughtful submission. Your insights are an important resource for other students, parents, and the Board of Directors as the issue is discussed and, hopefully, the directive is rescinded.