Pali’s Club Week returned this fall with a few changes despite the loss of equipment, disruption in student activities and relocation of Pali students and staff to a new building.
Due to the limited size of the Pali South, formerly Sears, building compared to Pali’s original campus, the Associated Student Body (ASB) decided to organize clubs into three categories: student unions (14), service clubs (70) and interest clubs (70). Each group was assigned a specific day of the week to present their club to peers.
Junior and ASB Commissioner of Student Involvement Roxana Bakhtari explained how there was a Club Day held over Zoom after the Fires, “but it was hard to connect with one another [virtually].”
Regardless of there being fewer clubs than in previous years, Bakhtari found this year’s Club Week to be much more successful.
“We had a lot of engagement from students,” Bakhtari said. “Each day was packed. If you walked around the tables, you could see that there were [about] five people surrounding each.”
ASB advisor Robert King said the event provided a great way for students to “share their creative ideas and find others with similar interests.”
Bakhtari said the recovery process “wasn’t all easy, though.”
Senior and Envirothon Club President Justin Reinman faced some challenges after the fire.
Club Advisor Steve Engelmann’s classroom and its contents were destroyed due to the fire. Losses included Envirothon’s interactive fossils and the club’s 2016 third-place trophy from the National Conservation Foundation Envirothon Competition, according to Reinman.
Reinman noted that despite this, the club was able to adapt to the challenges incited by the fire.
“Most of the necessary tools and fossils are still available, and we have been using temporary locations like Creston Park,” Reinman said.
Many students showed interest in Envirothon during Club Week.
“It was a huge turnout,” Reinman said. “I was not expecting that many people.”
Some clubs, however, weren’t able to return after the fires.
The Trader Joe’s Club, where students would try the grocery store’s new products, was never passed on to current Pali students from the graduating seniors who managed it, according to Bakhtari.
Sophomore Arianna Souri, previously a member of the club, started another Trader Joe’s-related club, Cookies for Cancer.
“I missed the community. In response, I created a service club … that buys treats from Trader Joe’s, hosts bake sales and donates the money to cancer research,” Souri said. “I’m super excited to see how our first meeting goes.”
Cookies for Cancer received around 100 signups, carrying on the legacy of Pali’s Trader Joe’s Club.
“I talked to a lot of clubs, and many said that they got over two pages of sign ups,” Bakhtari said. “So I would consider it a success.”
King noted that Club Week is especially important after the fires because it allows for students to reconnect.
“In my brain, I still imagine Club Week on Pali’s quad. There’s a beauty to it,” King said. “But I’m super proud of ASB, they did a great job and made the best of the situation.”
