By Michale Llanas & Mikaela Arce
New school year, new beginnings. Perhaps it’s time to find something to do after school, start doing things that look good on college resumes, or maybe find something fun to do with a bunch of friends. With a multitude of clubs for plenty different types of students, Madison has a lot to offer. These are just a few that are often overlooked:
SOLAR CAR EST. 1993
Solar Car began long, long ago in 1993 (not that long, honestly) when the Winston Solar Car team started an educational program for teaching high school students how to build a solar car. The Winston Solar Car Challenge was thus born: a closed track event at the Texas Motor Speedway. The team continues today and competes in national events and races. If the fear of not fitting in with a bunch of people that are a whiz at science and math is too much, don’t worry about it – there’s more to it than numbers. In fact, Solar Car members are required to do public presentations to gain sponsors for funding, welding the car itself, “engineering” and putting all the inside parts together so the car works. Another unresolved myth about Solar Car is that it’s very time consuming, which is, in fact, a mere myth. Solar Car meets 2-4 hours a week during school, during spring break, once for the competition in July, and then right before school starts to discuss their plans for the year’s upcoming design.
THE UNITY CLUB
The Unity Club, open to all students, focuses on changing teenagers perspectives on bias, racism, and bullying. This is offered to make Madison a more positive environment by giving students an opportunity to improve relationships with students from different backgrounds. The Unity Club’s goal is to pass the message onto the elementary and middle school feeders.
DECA BUSINESS
To students interested in marketing, business and leadership Deca just might be your niche. Its an opportunity to participate in community service, compete in marketing areas, and meet both student and business people within Texas. “Students in Deca learn how to be college ready” Deca sponsor Sylvia Rodriguez said. “They learn leadership skills, management skills and learn to be community oriented.”
NOT SPEAKIN’ MY LANGUAGE
Madison has six different language classes: Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Sign Language, and Latin – three out of six have their own clubs separate from the class, and they are tons of fun if the culture sparks your interest. Spanish club goes on group trips to Mexican restaurants where they then order their food in Spanish. German club takes a trip at the end of the year to New Braunfels to visit the Wurst-Festival, an all day event consisting of German music, games and bratwurst. French club throws down at the end of the year with a party including all their members. If food, friends and fun sounds good, join your favorite language club!
High school is far more bearable when able to look forward to something every morning, so get involved. Ask around and see what friends are doing, chances are if they have similar interests it could be fun to join something together.