Despite their other commitments around campus, Carlmont teachers guide students to create and manage clubs that nurture growth.
Since the beginning of the school year, club activities have been in full swing, with the return of many staples such as Key Club and Green Team, and many new clubs such as the Art Showcase Club and Startup Club.
To tame this chaos and walk students through fostering a community at Carlmont, teachers agree to supervise student-run clubs. This allows teachers to both monitor the activities of these clubs and provide advice and space for clubs to operate.
“The role of a supervisor can be as simple as opening their doors during lunch and be as extensive as following students to various activities around campus or possibly even taking them on field trips,” said Jim Kelly, the club supervisor at Carlmont.
Leonard Jin, president of the Startup Club, mentioned how advisor Oscar Fabic aided him in trimming down the number of club officers to create an environment more centered around fulfilling the mission of the Startup Club, rather than having something to write about on a college application.
“Mr. Fabic, our club’s supervisor, is really interested in the entrepreneurship and business our club teaches, so he always gives comments and advice during our meetings concerning our next steps,” Jin said.
I try to be as involved as possible in advising, but I’m not in control of my students’ choices, so I’m glad that they are willing to take the opportunity to experiment and learn from their failures. — Oscar Fabic
Fabic also gives fundraising and organizational advice that helps student clubs to fundraise lawfully and succeed. In the future, Jin hopes to further improve the Startup Club, utilizing Fabic’s advice.
“We should definitely begin communicating with our supervisor more, and it’d be much easier to work around any other issues that come up with Mr. Fabic,” Jin said.
On top of supervising the Startup Club, Fabic supervises the Military History Club, the Money Club, and the Grey Matters Club, in addition to coaching girls’ flag football and coordinating for the Biotech Institute at Carlmont.
“Fortunately there aren’t any issues, though I’m unable to take in much more responsibility. Everything blends together in terms of time management,” Fabic said.
Enzo Chen, president of the Speaker Series Club, felt that support from his club advisor, Lindsey Moynihan, was a big reason his club was able to garner its large membership in the first place.
“She really guided me through the process of creating a club and provided us with a room and other resources to get started,” Chen said.
Teachers appreciate the initiative that students take when they create and lead clubs.
“It isn’t too difficult to manage the clubs, and I think I’m lucky to have thorough students who are really passionate about their clubs,” said Connor Fenech, club supervisor for the Swinging Scots and Art Showcase Club.
Fabic echoed this sentiment.
“Kids have such a passion for the things they’re involved in,” Fabic said. “They’re all very interesting in their own ways, so when students approach me with ideas it’s just hard for me to say no.”
