Once a month, classes at Salem Church Middle School look a little different.
Last year, the Chesterfield County school embedded student club time in the school day instead of in the traditional after-school time slot; it’s continuing that schedule this year.
The clubs meet one Friday morning a month, with slightly shorter class periods to accommodate club time. Principal Nicholas Olson said the only equitable way to hold clubs is to mix them into the regular school day.
“For the community we serve, many of them are either going to take care of younger siblings or parents are working late after school,” Olson said. “And so a ride to and from school is just not feasible. If we're going to have a great idea, we have to make sure that all of our students have access to that great idea.”
Despite a light drizzle in late May, students in the gardening club came outside to pick vegetables and weeds. Matthew Soriano, who will be in seventh grade this fall, held up a wild onion as he listed just about everything he’s gotten to take home: spider plants, radishes and potatoes.
“My potatoes I grew are at my house right now in a pot,” Soriano said. “And I'm waiting for them to get a little bigger so I can plant them into the ground.”
He also explained why his classmates chose marigolds to plant near the vegetables: “Bugs don't like them, and it will keep them away from the tomatoes.”
As part of a schoolwide writing project, students were tasked with writing a persuasive essay about a club they wanted to start and why it would be important to the school.
The most persuasive clubs — within reason — would be picked to actually start.
School librarian Danielle Schafer came up with the idea for the project.
“I read almost every single kid’s essay, so like 900 essays,” Schafer said. “Their vast interests are amazing.”
Some of the ideas — like a pitch for a penguin club — were a little fantastical, Olson said.
“It was a great idea, but it’s just not feasible for us to start a penguin club,” Olson said. “So we went through them and chose 17 clubs that were doable.”
The approved activities included the authors’ club, the volleyball club, the international food club, the anime club, the Dungeons & Dragons club — and the crochet club, which was so popular that there was a waitlist to join. Olson said the school hopes to add more clubs this year.
At a crochet club meeting before summer break, club sponsor Sarah Thompson set out the needles and yarn.
“We kept all of their things in here,” she said. “They each had their own bag with yarn, they picked out a hook. So then when we would meet, they could all go and get their bag and start to crochet.”
Thompson, the school’s counseling director, said the meetings have been her favorite hour of the day. She said it’s been refreshing to see the interactions between students that don’t involve social media or text messages.
“There's more communication between them that's healthy,” Thompson said. “They're helping each other.”
Some of that collaboration was on display as crochet club member Heidi Price showed club founder Stella Jadwin how to do a bobble stitch. Price, who is entering eighth grade, said she definitely plans to join again this year.
“It’s really a relaxing thing,” Price said. “And it makes you feel good about yourself when you finish something that you've been trying to do for a long time.”
She said she’s finished a lot of projects since joining the club, including two scarves, plushies, a tote bag and a shoulder bag.
“I just upcycled an old bag that I didn't use for my inner lining, and I added a little zipper,” Price said. “Right now I’m trying to make a little charm, a little star charm, to put on my bag.”
Briella Benton was working on a couch blanket for her family.
“It's going to be dark green and light green. Then yellow, light green, dark green,” Benton said. “Those are my favorite colors.”
Olson also said the clubs have lit a fire within his students. And the experience has been magical, he said — exactly as education should be.
“It wasn't personality driven, it was just purely about something they had an interest in, which is really cool,” he added.
