Block Party: Student Thoughts On The New Club Period
Picture by Abby Glusker ’26
The high school’s new Wednesday club block has been welcomed as a 25 minutes of opportunity by some and a dreaded inconvenience by others.
Grace has not had a club block since 2018. The last club time had to be removed from the schedule because students failed to show up to the meetings. Now, there is a new weekly club block from 1:50 pm-2:15 pm.
Some students enjoy the new addition, and others are upset with this disruption.
Adding the controversial club block means our school day on Wednesday now ends at 3:20 pm instead of 3:10 pm.
“I appreciated that extra ten minutes of leaving early, [but] I love my club, Multi-Gracial,” said Vivienne S. ‘25, a co-leader of Multi-Gracial.
Others have said that if they have a club that they enjoy, the block is useful. “[The block] could be worth having it if you’re in a club you like,” said Chris D. ‘27.
Some students who choose not to participate in a club have a short study hall or time in the Learning Lab with the learning specialist, Sammantha Farkas-Furniss, who believes that the block is a “defined time to participate in things [the students] are passionate about.”
One drawback is that the club block is only 25-minutes long. Cate C. ‘27 explained that she “would prefer not to have a random 20 minutes where students can’t do anything really sustainable.” As a member of the Banana Splits affinity group, she commented that the block is enjoyable and fun, but she is not able to deeply connect with the other students in her group because of the lack of time.
Cate and Chris have both expressed that this club block could be deemed as a “waste of time” by some if it is not spent doing something enjoyable.
However, the club block is very helpful for many club leaders. It allows them to have an organized time to meet with the certainty that people will show up. This assigned time allows for the clubs to plan field trips and have time to create set agendas.
From a faculty perspective, Antonella Dominguez, the diversity coordinator at the high school who is one of the faculty members who helped revive the club block, believes that the new period club block is going well. In her eyes, “In the past years, student leaders have wanted a time to meet because there is not a great time [during the school day].”
The club block at Grace has been a great time for student leaders to express interest in the community. Ms. Dominguez expressed how excited she was that the club block was fully student-led. Without their self-advocacy with intentions regarding the club block, the block wouldn’t have been proposed.
Despite the club block being very successful, Ms. Dominguez agreed that the time is relatively short and that not all students are being productive. There are some students who “want more work time [and] end up in the library,” Ms. Dominguez said. Still, Ms. Dominguez explained that 95% of the students are going where they should be and this is enough for her.
The Club block has left the student body wondering if it’s worth our time. Do administrators need to change the schedule to fit this block in? Is the block really useful to students? Are things getting done during the club block?
As the year goes on, the club block may be an essential part of our Wednesday schedules. Opinions on the club block may differ but the block is here to stay.
India Bischof ‘27 and Siena Green ‘27, the authors, are staff writers for The Grace Gazette.