The Mycenaean

Leesville’s clubs are now meeting virtually. The Creative Journaling Club meets for the first time this semester through Google Meet as club members take part in their activity. (Photo permission of Michelle Engdahl – Creative Journaling Club teacher advisor)

Leesville Road High School is offering students who are club members the opportunity to meet virtually for the first time with their club. Leesville’s PTA publicly announced all club meetings for the 2020-2021 school year will resume on September 9, 2020.

Shani Inbari, Leesville High School student, begins her online junior year at LRHS. As a member of the Creative Journalist Club, Inbari regularly attends the monthly meetings. However, with the school’s campus closed to students for the first semester, Inbari and many other club members across the school are left without a place to gather. 

Thankfully, the PTA’s club meeting announcement further gives Inbari the opportunity to meet once again with her club through a virtual meeting.

Inbari gives her own opinions and thoughts about the new virtual club meeting process: “The first meeting was today, September 9, I thought it would be awkward at first, but from previous years many people were already friends so it wasn’t too awkward and was fun seeing everyone, ” said Inbari via text.

“Virtual meetings can be weird at first, and there were definitely some technical difficulties, but as time goes on the meetings will run smoother,” said Inbari regarding the pros and cons of virtual meetings. Like all LRHS club members, Inbari is still getting used to the virtual meeting process.

One of the obstacles Inbari faces is the attendance rate and new virtual recruitment process, in which students willing to join must go through the virtual recruitment process in order to become a member.  “We will try to reach out to people maybe directly that we know or get younger members of the club to reach out to anyone they know interested,” said Inbari.

Inbari claims students were more active and collaborative with in person meetings rather than virtual, claiming how students are less interested in the virtual conversation. “We had a higher attendance rate in person than we did virtual – we had 23 today and often 25-30 on a typical day on school campus,” said Inbari. 

Throughout the confusion, technical difficulties, attendance rate issues, and new recruitment processes, Inbari feels confident in the new virtual club meeting format. With proper timing and a schedule for club meetings, members are once again able to meet with their clubs for the first time this 2020-2021 school year.