With safety regulations enacted, Rochester High School student athletes have been playing on their fields and courts for the past couple of weeks; however, with the comeback of clubs, more students will have the opportunity to socialize in person. 

RHS principal, Mr. DeLuca, and the Admin Team wanted to give all students the opportunity to socialize with others, with the goal to bring back clubs, with safety on the table. 

“We [admin team] felt that all students should have the opportunity to participate in an extracurricular. So many people, including the media, focused on sports because they are sanctioned by the MHSAA [Michigan High School Athletic Association]. It was our mission to bring back clubs with the proper protocols,” DeLuca said.

As September came to an end, the clubs at RHS were given the option to start in-person meetings or continue meeting virtually. With certain restrictions, some clubs already took advantage of meeting in person, like the Rochester Alliance and Theatrical Students. Key Club and National English Honors Society are continuing with virtual meetings until things calm down with the transition to the hybrid model. 

“Every club is different so students should check with their specific club advisors or officers if they don’t know the meeting format,” RHS senior Megan Loren, who is the secretary for Key Club and the co-secretary for NEHS, said. 

Both of the club meeting options will be available for all students, including those in Virtual Campus.

“A main thing for clubs is that they need to be accessible for virtual campus students as well as remote/in-person students. Because of this, club officers and advisors need to be aware of all the different timing and plan meetings to fit everyone’s schedules to the best of their ability,” Loren said.

For the clubs meeting in person, the meetings will take place inside the school or outside, like they have in the past years, only with the addition of restrictions. Indoor meetings will require all members to wear a mask at all times and social distance. To make social distancing easier, the rooms for meetings will only be at 25 percent capacity, which has increased the demand for the media center and the upper cafeteria. 

In addition to the masks and social distancing, all members must complete a health screening online before participating in the meeting, to decrease the spread of the virus.

“With all these steps, hopefully students can have fun participating in clubs while also staying safe,” Loren said.