Getting involved in extracurricular activities at school

By Delaney Rombough

Posted on January 24, 2022

Extracurricular activities are a great way to get involved in your school, meet new friends, practice your hobbies, and learn new things. In Canada, most high schools offer a wide variety of extracurricular activities and clubs. All student clubs and sports teams are supervised and run by a staff member. Activities range from sports to academic clubs, so there’s something for everyone.

The arts

Many schools offer arts clubs and activities such as music and performing arts. Some of the most common clubs include drama club, choir, and band. Band and choir are great options for students who enjoy singing or playing a musical instrument. Students usually work on playing or singing a selection of songs and they often perform at school events and assemblies. There may also be opportunities for students to perform outside of school. Students in drama or theatre clubs may put on a play or musical for the student body once or twice a year. They may also participate in drama festivals such as the NTS DramaFest.

Sports

High schools often offer both recreational and competitive sports. Recreational sports are usually known as intramurals and students can often just drop-in to play sports at lunch time or after school. Intramurals are less competitive and students often participate just for fun and a bit of exercise with their friends.

Schools also have competitive sports teams. Playing competitive sports often includes tryouts, regular practices during the week, and games against other schools once or twice a week. There are usually teams for both boys and girls at the junior (Grades 9 and 10) and senior (Grades 11 and 12) level. Some sports, such as track and field and badminton, may be co-ed. For example, there may be a junior girls volleyball team, a junior boys soccer team, and a senior girls basketball team.

Sports are divided into three seasons: fall, winter, and spring. Seasons are usually eight to 10 weeks long. Students generally only play one sport per season due to the time commitment of practice and games. During the season, every school plays each other at least once. Then at the end of the season, there are playoffs where schools compete to be the district champion. Some of the most popular sports are basketball, volleyball, football, soccer, and track and field, but there may also be more depending on the school and the district.

Clubs

Many schools offer a wide variety of clubs. There may be subject-specific academic clubs such as creative writing club, science club, computers club, and French club, where students can continue to develop their knowledge of subjects of interest outside the classroom.

There are also usually a number of social justice or interest-based clubs such as book club, environment club, dance club, or anime club. These clubs are a great way for students to make friends with people who have similar interests and hobbies. These types of clubs tend to vary a lot between schools. If students are interested in starting their own club, they should talk to one of their teachers.

Schools may also have clubs that are part of larger local, provincial, or even national organizations. These clubs may include, Gay Straight Alliances (GSA), DECA, and Model United Nations (UN). There are often opportunities for students in these clubs to get together with the same club at different schools in the district for events, conferences, or competitions.