Students are still actively participating in extracurricular clubs at Morton East — but virtually.

In a random survey of 23 Morton East students, 23 students reported that they’ve been meeting with their clubs virtually.

Traditionally, school clubs would be what students choose to do after school based on their interests like coding, art, mechanic, etc.  Students would typically spend an hour or so after school hanging out with their peers with similar interests.  But, currently, with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the New York Times, 93% of households that consist of students are doing remote learning from their homes. Until now schools are allowing clubs to be continued through video calls to prevent the spread of the virus to others.

“We’re meeting on Zoom, sometimes Teams, but we have not met in person this year. I think clubs are extremely beneficial right now to the students who need that escape. In Snowball, we meet for about an hour Thursdays at 3:30 pm and we play games and sing songs. It can seem like it would be awkward to do this online thing especially after you’ve had online classes all day, but we know there are kids who need this. They need the time to just turn their brains off and hang out with others. We all leave with a smile on our faces and right now that’s the most important thing,” Snowball Leader Ms. Lopez said.

The process of coming in person for clubs has to notified early as possible to the school but things may come up.

“My club has been meeting virtually because in order to come to the school, a list of students who are entering must be provided earlier in the day to the Assistant Principals Office. My club members often have last-minute plans or change their mind about coming in so we have kept it to 100% virtual. I think it is very beneficial to have clubs during these times because they help students experience something other than just schoolwork,” JSA leader Ms. Sandoval said.

Just using one hour of your day dedicated to the extracurricular you like can be beneficial during these times.

“One day out of the week, we watch music videos; members fill out a form (and suggest) a variety of songs.  I think our sponsor tends to like this day since it’s usually pretty chill — more than the other 2 days. We learn the chorus of the song. I try making jokes and my cat tends to be there as well, so it is kind of like taking a step back from all the stress and work everyone has to do during the day, kind of like an escape from reality for like half an hour,” K-Pop Leader Ivette Miranda said.