Fun Outside of the Classroom

October 28, 2009  
Filed under Feature

Ottawa High School is filled with many different clubs and other extracurricular activities that appeal to a great variety of interests. These interests include drawing, painting, foreign languages, chess, education, school spirit, sports, and many other things. These activities can be a great way to expand your knowledge and time in your favorite hobbies and events.

If you are interested in creating art masterpieces, you can be a part of Art Guild. This club is sponsored by Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Thompson, the art teachers at OHS. Anyone can join. The group meets in the mornings a couple times a month.  In previous years, Art Guild has participated in painting a mural on a wall in the Ottawa City Library, made bowls for the Empty Bowls charity that helps feed hungry people and participated in a raku pot instruction class in Lawrence. This year they will be doing some of these activities again along with new things.

“We are going to the Kemper Art Gallery in November to see art by the Wyeth family,” Mitchell said.

People who participate in Art Guild also have a chance at receiving an art scholarship. To raise money for these events and scholarships, Art Guild will be hosting concession stands during different sporting events.

If Spanish class is not enough for you, or you aren’t enrolled in a class and want to learn about the culture, then you can join Spanish Club with Stephanie Poppe. This club meets several times a month after school. The group has and will be participating in several exciting events. Last Thursday, the 22, the group went out to a Mexican restaurant and to The Beast.

Poppe said the group is planning cultural activites, and will have fiestas at different member’s houses throughout the year. They will also be watching Spanish movies and other fun activities.

“Last year, [the foreign language club] was not very active. This year there is a large participation,” Poppe said.

Although there are more people this year, there is still room for more. Like Art Guild, any OHS student can join Spanish club even if they are not enrolled in a correlating class.

The third featured club is one you have to work to get into. This group is NHS, National Honor Society. NHS is for students who have a GPA of 3.6 or higher. Being in this group can help you earn scholarships to different colleges, and is also a way of rewarding students who work hard.

However, this is not a club where once someone in inducted, they are lifelong members. Rather, they have to keep their GPA up and participate in the meetings and activities. This year, the largest number members were initiated into the society: 39.

NHS completes community work, fund raising, and many other things. According to Sheryl Servatius Brown, librarian and NHS sponsor, members gave candy to students who were wearing their seatbelts a couple of weeks ago. Along with that, the members helped Jenna McDaniels, para, with the breast cancer awareness activities that raised money for people diagnosed in Franklin County. She also said that NHS will be selling fruit in November for other fundraising purposes.

These three clubs are just a few of the many extracurricular activities you can be a part of. There are many different ones you can choose from. Take a look at them and get involved in one that interests you.

What students like about the clubs:

Art Guild

“I joined Art Guild because I’ve always been interested in art. Others should join because it looks good if you are planning on going into [a career] in art. You also do fun crafts.” – Clarissa Szepski-Kestle, Junior

Spanish Club

“We get to go on fun trips.”- Brittany Brown, Sophomore

National Honor Society

“It’s good because it makes you keep your grades up and it looks good for colleges.”- Cesia Crook, Junior

—–
Kali Hinman

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