Let’s Take a Look At DVC’s Post-Quarantine Club Fair
On the sunny afternoon of Sept. 16, Da Vinci Communications hosted its very first Post-Quarantine Club Fair, which featured over 30 different club booths across the DVC floor.
Among those groups were clubs ranging from Conspiracy Theories to American Sign Language, and almost every other topic, hobby, and sport. While some students and staff seem wary of the effect COVID-19 might have on club dynamics, most are excited to get back into the swing of in-person school and what that entails. Donald Puathasnanon, a Precalculus & Geometry teacher who manages the Women Empowerment Club explained the challenges clubs face with new COVID-19 protocols.
“Number one, not having dedicated spaces… that’s going to be hard,” said Donald Puathasnanon, a Precalculus and Geometry teacher who manages the Women Empowerment Club. “A lot of clubs have always met at lunch… But now… we can’t use those rooms, they can’t eat up here… so I think that’s going to be the biggest effect.”
On the other hand, Donald also mentioned the excitement students might be feeling and how that could greatly affect the success of most clubs at DVC, “We’ll see after the club fair, but I think people are looking to find things that are awesome.”
This may be true, especially since more than half of the students at DVC are spending their first year physically on campus, and many are excited to find their clique, their niche, and to overall enrich their high school experience. Diego Marquez, a junior at DVC, explained what he looks for when joining a club.
“I just join if it seems interesting, and if it seems boring, then I’m out,” said Marquez. He looks forward to his time in the Latino Community Club, Fantasy Football, and Movie Club.
Another student, sophomore Akira Miles, hasn’t had much time to participate in the clubs she joined during the fair, but anticipates her time in Black Student Union, Cheer Team, and the Art and Multimedia Design Club. She values diversity, the activities, and the general appeal of a club when deciding what to join, and hasn’t had any regrets so far. Lots of students at DVC haven’t had the opportunity to witness the way clubs bring out DVC culture, and how much that affects the school population.
“I mean some clubs have the ability to really just create interest groups, and just culture around campus,” said Puathasnanon. “Clubs like Black Student Union, and the LatinX club, and things like that, they put on cultural days, and… You know Girls Who Code does amazing work just trying to empower women in the sciences.”
Ryan Romero • Oct 20, 2021 at 8:50 am
I feel like the writing is very detailed, and that the interviews add on to the topic add hand allowing you to get to the next point each time. Reading your article I realize it is short, but that’s fine because I feel like that is what makes your article so unique. It has the ability to be short because it gets straight to the point gives all this detailed information that doesn’t need to be long. In all, you did a wonderful job, amazing work.
Garrett Hoff • Oct 6, 2021 at 12:01 pm
This article is very concise and to the point which I think is underrated in articles. The interviews also flow well with the writing, great work!
Emma Gonzalez • Oct 6, 2021 at 11:50 am
I found your article to be very interesting and straight to the point, a lot of the articles that I read are long and overwhelm me, so I never finish reading because I get bored. I appreciated how you covered your article about something that happened on the actual DVC campus because viewers can relate to the experience and reflect on their own personal time at the club fairs. Warm feedback would be that your quotes and relevance of sources were very spot on, quotes revealed more about the club fair and the interests of different students. One piece of advice, especially for covering a large event like a club fair, would be to maybe get more interviews on different students with completely opposite interests and clubs instead of just getting two students to interview and a teacher. Overall, your article was amazing and I love how detailed you went into your transitions. Nice work!
Abigaile O. • Oct 6, 2021 at 9:48 am
This article is very small and easy to read so that’s mainly why I like it very much. What’s great about it is that it shows how as a school we are learning to adapt to the limitations given to us from the pandemic with our clubs and sports. I like how your article also uses examples of why joining a club or sport can be a great thing at DVC.
Micah Sessions • Oct 6, 2021 at 9:38 am
Phoenix, I think your article is really well written, and provides especially interesting insight on the importance of clubs and the new challenges they face due to COVID-19 protocols. I do have one piece of feedback though: I’m not sure if you need to restate Donald’s title after his quote since you already did it in the previous paragraph. I feel like it breaks the flow of language a bit, and feels a tad redundant.
Luciana Ali • Oct 6, 2021 at 9:35 am
Phoenix!! I love your article! It was written so well and it feels very professional. You should be very proud of your work! Congrats on getting published!!