Cate Reed, seasoned administrator, current Senior Vice President of Teach For America, and Possip Reporter, explores ways school leaders can increase the extracurricular opportunities for their students.
Families are always eager for their students to be involved in activities outside of their regular core academics. As we highlighted in our blog post, “Back to School: Anticipating Parent Concerns – Event Recap”, extracurricular activities are top of mind for families headed into this year, which is not surprising as things get closer to normal after the height of the pandemic.
Offering extracurricular opportunities can meet many needs:
- A robotics club can help students build skills that they can use in their core academics.
- A field hockey team for kids who love sports can provide an added incentive to keep up their attendance.
- A cooking club can unlock a career path for a middle school student.
All of these things can provide a safe space for kids after school and give them the opportunity to connect with peers and with a caring adult outside of the structure and rigor of school.
However, in a world of limited budgets, tight schedules, and competing demands, it can be challenging to offer these “extras”. Often, particularly in the younger grades, those opportunities can be limited. Plus, in a world of short staffing, finding people to run them can be even more difficult. Here are some ideas for how to build up your extracurricular offerings in school using some outside-of-the-box ideas:
Survey survey survey! (Hint: using a Possip bonus question could be a great option here!)
Ark your families and staff what they’d love to see and where they can help. Here are some guiding questions to start with:
Ask Families:
- What opportunities would families like to see offered?
- What hobbies or interests do parents or other caregivers have that they might want to share with students?
- When do they want these offered? In school? After school? Before? Weekends? Breaks?
- What, if anything, are they willing to pay to have their students participate?
Ask Staff:
- What do they see kids talking about in school?
- What hobbies or interests do they have that they might want to share with students?
- Would they be open to hosting a club or coaching a sport? In school? After school? Before? Weekends? Breaks?
- What would they expect in compensation to host or coach a club or sport?
Once you know this information, think about low-lift ways to offer up a set of opportunities for kids. People often equate extracurriculars with sports alone, but as we highlighted in our blog article, “Enriching non-sports extracurricular activities,” kids have lots of interests! Maybe you can create a flex period in the day when teachers could host clubs that align with their interests. Maybe families are willing to pay a small fee to be on a sports team that a teacher or parent has experience in and wants to coach (just be sure everyone has the right clearances.) Can the afterschool program run a volleyball tournament or chess match?
Look Outside the Building
Sports and clubs don’t have to be hosted by a school to benefit students. What places nearby have opportunities for students? Does the YMCA have a basketball league? Does the Boys and Girls Club have a STEM Club? Does the local dance troupe host beginner ballet? Gather together a bunch of opportunities that exist near your school and compile them into a brochure for families to consider. Invite those organizations to come to back-to-school nights or conference days to share more about what they offer. Be sure to post that info, with links to the programs, on your website for easy access.
Celebrate Participation!
Getting kids involved, particularly after the lockdown and the past few years, is a way to get them engaged in real life again. Create certificates for completion. Help kids transitioning from elementary to mirror or middle to high school share their broader experiences in their school applications. Ensure college counselors are tracking participation to help students tell their whole story as they apply to college and other post-secondary schools. Invite former students to lead the clubs and sports they most enjoyed. Most of all, get kids excited about exploring their interests and hobbies outside of reading and math can set them up for all kinds of opportunities down the road.
Downloadable resource: Ideas to Expand Your Extracurricular Offerings provides a comprehensive range of options from literary and writing to business and civic engagement, recreation and sports, academic and vocation, arts, and more.
