Enriching

Aschool experience goes beyond lessons learned in the classroom. Part of what helps shape wellrounded students are the skills they sharpen and memories they make while engaging in extracurricular activities. Extracurricular involvement shows that students can stick with activities for extended periods of time, indicates they have passions and interests, and illustrates that they can take initiative outside of their schoolwork.

Athletics is a popular extracurricular activity. A love of sports often develops in elementary school, with children participating in recreational or schoolbased leagues each year. That enjoyment of the game only builds in middle school and high school. However, there are plenty of students who are not sports enthusiasts but still fill their after-school hours with activities that can help cultivate leadership, teamwork, time management skills, confidence, and much more. The following are some extracurriculars that go beyond the scholastic playing fields.

• Arts activities: These can include painting, sketching, ceramics, jewelry-making, and yarn work.

• Band or chorus: Music instruction is ideal for those who want to explore a passion for singing or playing an instrument.

• Theater: Students can participate in theater productions after school. It’s possible to get involved both in front of the curtain and behind with positions in the cast, crew and even promotional team.

• Newspaper:

Many schools still produce student-led newspapers in print or digital versions. Students handle all of the roles, from reporting, editing, photography and managing the publication.

• Foreign language clubs: Students may want to expand on their foreign language studies by participating in language clubs. Often these clubs include learning more about the cultures where specific languages are spoken, including exploring culinary delights and possible travel.

• Philanthropy: Like-minded students may want to participate in school-organized volunteer activities. These keep students busy, but also benefit recipients in many ways. Activities can include beach sweeps or volunteering at animal shelters.

• Coding and programming: Students can learn the basics of writing code and building computer applications or websites.

• Culinary arts: Certain schools may be equipped with kitchen facilities and still offer elective courses in culinary arts, while others may reserve cooking classes to extracurricular activities. If a school does not have a culinary club, chances are students can find a cooking class offered through a private group.

There are plenty of extracurricular activities to engage students who are not interested in athletics. Students also can start new clubs if there are deficits in offerings at their schools.