Carrying tables, creating captivating posters and rushing to set up stands for both lunches, signal the beginning of Gables’ annual Club Fair. An event that takes place during both lunches in October and allows our school to display all the student-run clubs it has to offer. From the Computer Science Club, to Gables’ very-own Weekly Interactive Zone for Arts Recreation and Design club, to Gables Bangra, clubs have something for everyone.
While club fair is beneficial for all, it is especially beneficial to freshmen who now have the opportunity to discover and sign up for clubs according to what they are passionate about. However, all students can benefit from joining a club, not only to add to their extracurricular list for college but also, to connect with a community of students who share the same passion as them. However, the large number of clubs can be overwhelming so, categorizing them can simplify what to sign up to.
National Honor Society clubs are prevalent all around the country and make up a large amount of clubs available here at Gables. From the French Honor Society to the Science National Honor Society, there are nine honor society clubs available for students to join. While being the only clubs with a Grade Point Average requirement of 3.0, these clubs are extremely helpful in making students stand out to colleges as well as connecting them with other high-achieving students across the country.
These clubs are the embodiment of “academic clubs”, most of their events and meetings taking place with academics in mind. From FHS hosting tutoring events where more advanced students tutor students struggling in French, to the Journalism Honor Society establishing a journalistic community with their educational monthly events, The National Honor Society clubs at Gables truly uphold students to the highest standards while fulfilling an important role in the extensive list of Gables’ clubs.
Service clubs are another category of extremely beneficial and recommended clubs for students to join. Due to students having a required minimum amount of community service hours in place in order to graduate, students often struggle to complete all these hours. Yet, service clubs make the process immensely easier by holding community service events that have students completing and even exceeding these hours in a matter of months.
From Key Club’s monthly drives where students can donate food, clothes or toys, to Green Gables’ beach cleanups, most students complete their hours in no time. However, in addition to completing community service hours, students get to take part in enriching experiences and community building events like the monthly Gables wellness’ yoga sessions taught by Mrs. Elizabeth Kiely and visits made to the Lotus House Women’s Shelter and The Coral Gables Rotarians at the Veterans Hospital by many students under the clubs. These service clubs ultimately offer a mutually beneficial experience to students and others of our community in need.
A crucial category to the list of clubs available at Gables are clubs unique to Gables. These clubs are so vital to our school because they were made and run with Cavalier students in mind. While clubs similar to these can be found across schools, these were in created and reside in the hands of by past and present students. For example, the Andrea Jaime Medical Leader’s club, started by Andrea Jaime herself where many guest speakers come to speak about the medical field or, the Political Activism and Civic Engagement club, a bi-partisan club started by Nikita Leus-Oliva, created after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting, in order to give Gables students a voice in politics. These clubs are just a testament to how unique Gables is and how Cavaliers are continuously and in diverse ways, giving back to their community.
While many clubs were mentioned, these are just a small fraction of all Gables has to offer in terms of clubs. With this year’s club fair as a way to showcase them, many can agree that this annual event is beneficial to all and gives old and new students to try something new.
