Spring Clubs and Pubs Fair Held During the School Day

On March 28, the Student Union (SU) hosted its annual Spring Clubs and Pubs Fair, which had over 170 clubs participating. This fair was different from previous fairs; unlike the others, it did not take place after school. Instead, the Spring Clubs and Pubs Fair took place after Friday’s SAT administration, with the eight-minute class periods typically scheduled after the SAT being replaced by the fair. 

The idea of hosting a Spring Clubs and Pubs Fair was initiated by Principal Seung Yu. In early March, Principal Seung Yu approached the SU for ideas on a school-wide activity to take place after the SAT. The SAT schedule on the 28th gave the school a practical opportunity to host the fair, which also served as an interactive, community-building activity. “With technically a requirement for student attendance, we would have an opportunity to get a larger cohort of students to come to the fair. And also, there would be a lot of supervision because the teachers were in the building,” said SU Faculty Advisor Matthew Polazzo.

The Club and Pubs Department was on a tight schedule, however, with only around two weeks to plan the event. The layout from the Fall Clubs and Pubs Fair proved useful in facilitating this process. This allowed the team to dedicate more time to communicating with each club and figuring out the logistics for their workshops and activities—a point the spring fair especially encouraged. Many logistical concerns remained the same as for previous fairs. “[We had to manage] getting all the clubs the rooms, getting the materials that they need to do demonstrations, and then hopefully having them leave and respect the space and clean up after themselves,” Polazzo said.

The execution of the Spring Clubs and Pubs Fair was a major concern because of the uncertainty of how many students would attend. Since this was the first time the fair was held during school hours, attendance rates from prior fairs which had taken place after school would be less indicative of student attendance this time around.

However, more students had the opportunity to attend this fair than previous ones because of the half-day schedule, which didn’t cut into time after school. “After school you get home really late, and on a half day, you don’t want to go to class for eight minutes for each period. This is so much better compared to that,” junior and Stuygi club member Lina Zheng said. “I think it’s good to stroll around and look at clubs after you come out from the stressful SAT. That's just for juniors, but I think it’s also a good opportunity for sophomores and freshmen to mix with more clubs.”

Principal Yu also expressed concerns regarding regulation of the number of students in each area, which was an important factor to take into account when mapping the event. At the same time, it was important to consolidate all of the clubs and their demonstrations to a certain number of floors. Senior and SU Clubs and Pubs Director Adeline Sauberli would have preferred the fair to be consolidated to floors three to five. “What if people think [a club is] too far away, and they don’t walk all the way down the hallway, and then those club leaders who are standing in that classroom ready to do something awesome, super fun, don’t end up getting enough members,” Sauberli said. The floor limitation would have encouraged students to see as much of the fair as possible. However safety regulations required that the clubs were more spread out, leading to some clubs to be placed on the first and sixth floors.

The Clubs and Pubs committee also encouraged clubs to hold interactable demonstrations and activities during this fair. They felt that while the student body could always use Epsilon to explore clubs any time of the year, experiencing them in a more engaging and dynamic setting would be more interesting and help students familiarize themselves with the clubs. “What we’re really missing is an accurate idea of what a meeting feels like, and what hanging out with these club members feel like,” Sauberli said. “The whole student body has a no-commitment opportunity to just feel what it’s like to be a part of these different communities, and also for clubs to celebrate and showcase the hard work they’ve put in.”

In Principal Yu’s email announcing the Spring Clubs and Pubs Fair, he explained that the goal of scheduling this event during the school day was meant to increase accessibility, recognizing that not all the students have the time to attend these events after school. However, this wasn’t always the case. “Unfortunately, a lot of people might have very long commutes to get to Stuy and don’t see it to be very worth their time to show up just for Club Fair,” Sauberli said. This concern extended beyond just visitors—club presenters were affected as well. Sauberli acknowledged that while many club leaders and members are very dedicated to their club, factors such as lengthy commutes made it difficult to justify coming to school solely for the fair.

Beyond attendance concerns, students also pointed to issues regarding communication and logistics. “Not many people want to go; it was sprung on us very randomly. We weren’t expecting it. We didn’t really have much to prepare,” sophomore and Stuy FBLA member Andrew Zhao said. “The club I’m in got moved to the sixth floor and so we’re kind of pissed about that, because we were in the lunchroom [previously], so we would have actually gotten people.”

Despite some criticisms, however, many students found the Spring Clubs and Pubs Fair to be an improvement from previous events. “It’s definitely a lot more interactive, which I really appreciate. People can see the workshops we actually do,” junior and founder as well as co-president of The Stuyvesant Guild Katherine Chang said. “It’s perfect because a lot more people have a lot more time.”

Many students also liked the new system of allowing clubs to utilize classrooms.“I definitely appreciate the new approach of letting clubs rent a room and have displays of what they do,” sophomore and co-director of Stuyvesant Study Society Brian Tran said. “I think it’s a better way of showing what clubs actually do.”

Though experimental, the Spring Clubs and Pubs Fair overall was well-received by students, many of whom felt it was a more productive use of time than the previously expected truncated periods. The workshop and student interaction aspect made the fair more engaging than previous ones, and having the fair during the school day was a decision that appealed to many students. In the future, the SU would like to continue the spring fair next year, and implement some of the new interactive elements into the fall fair. “We'd certainly like to probably do this again next year, as well. Maybe this will become an annual tradition as long as the SAT days keep falling in the way that they do,” Polazzo said.