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How to make it stick
Key principles from the article
- 1 Let students lead
- 2 Make it feel like community
- 3 Connect to real-world outcomes
- 4 Stop chasing perfection
Most school clubs die a quiet death. Not because students don’t want to join, but because they’re stuck doing the same thing every week-paperwork, meetings with no energy, and activities that feel like homework with extra steps. If your club is losing steam, it’s not because kids are bored. It’s because the club hasn’t figured out how to feel like something worth showing up for.
Start with what students actually care about
Stop asking teachers what they think students want. Ask the students. Seriously. Walk into a class during lunch, hand out sticky notes, and ask: "What would make you want to come to a club after school?" You’ll hear things like "I want to make music," "I want to learn how to code games," or "I just want to hang out with people who get me." A photography club in a high school in Dunedin started with a simple question: "Who here has taken a photo they’re proud of?" Ten hands went up. Two weeks later, they had 47 members. They didn’t need fancy cameras. They needed permission to be creative without grades attached.Let students lead
Adults love structure. Students hate being micromanaged. The most successful clubs aren’t run by teachers-they’re run by students, with adults as support staff. A student-led robotics team in Christchurch didn’t have a budget. They didn’t have a teacher on-site every day. But they had a 16-year-old who knew how to YouTube-tutorial Arduino, and three others who were obsessed with building robots out of old bike parts. The teacher’s job? To sign permission slips and order pizza on competition days.Make it feel like a community, not a class
School clubs fail when they feel like another subject. The fix? Build rituals. A weekly snack time. A shared playlist everyone adds to. A secret handshake. A "Wall of Wins" where people post screenshots of their personal achievements-like finally beating a video game level or writing a poem they’re proud of. One group in Wellington started a "Mystery Box" tradition. Every Friday, someone drops a weird object into a box. The next week, the group has to turn it into something new. Last month, it was a broken toaster. They turned it into a lamp. The teacher didn’t grade it. No one took photos for the school newsletter. But every kid showed up.
Connect to real-world outcomes
Kids don’t care about "building leadership skills." They care about getting noticed, getting good at something, or making something that matters. A drama club in Napier didn’t just put on a play. They partnered with a local retirement home and performed original monologues written by students based on interviews with residents. The performances weren’t judged. They were shared. One elderly woman cried. One student said, "I didn’t know I could make someone feel that way." That’s the moment a club stops being optional and starts being essential.Use low-cost, high-impact tools
You don’t need a budget to make a club exciting. You need creativity.- Use free apps like Canva to design posters, or CapCut to edit short videos of club moments.
- Host a "Club Swap Day"-students spend one afternoon in another club’s session. A coding club learns origami. A gardening club tries stop-motion animation.
- Invite a local artist, coder, or musician to come in for 30 minutes. No pay needed. Just ask them to bring one story about how they got started.
- Turn club meetings into mini-events: "Game Night," "Taste Test Tuesday," "Silent Disco with Headphones Only."
One school in Tauranga turned their book club into a "Book Escape Room." Students solved puzzles based on plot twists from novels they’d read. The winning team got to pick the next book. Attendance jumped from 8 to 32 in two weeks.
Stop chasing perfection
Too many clubs get stuck trying to be "the best." They want trophies, awards, press features. But the most alive clubs are messy, loud, and sometimes weird. A group of students in Palmerston North started a "Worst Inventions" club. They brought in broken appliances and tried to make them work… badly. One week, they turned a microwave into a speaker. It caught fire. They laughed. They cleaned it up. They came back next week. That’s the point. It’s not about being good. It’s about being real.
Measure success the right way
Don’t track attendance. Track joy. Ask yourself:- Do students come in smiling?
- Do they stay after it’s over?
- Do they bring friends?
- Do they talk about it outside school?
If the answer is yes, you’ve succeeded-even if you’ve never won a trophy.
What if no one shows up at first?
Start small. One person is enough. One kid who shows up because they’re curious. That’s your seed. Talk to them. Ask what they’d change. Let them invite one friend. Then two. Growth isn’t about promotion-it’s about word-of-mouth from someone who actually had fun.A teacher in Invercargill started a "Rainy Day Club"-just a room with board games, tea, and no rules. First week: three students. Second week: six. By the end of term, it was the most popular after-school space on campus. No flyers. No announcements. Just a quiet space where kids didn’t have to perform.
Stop thinking like a school. Start thinking like a hangout.
School clubs shouldn’t feel like an extension of the classroom. They should feel like the place you go when you need to breathe. The place where you’re not graded, not judged, not told what to do. The place where you get to be part of something that’s yours.That’s how you make a club interesting. Not with glitter and prizes. But with trust, space, and the quiet understanding that sometimes, the most powerful thing you can offer a teenager is: "You’re welcome here, exactly as you are."
What if my school won’t let me start a club?
Start with a pilot. Ask for one meeting room, one hour a week, and permission to invite students. Bring a signed petition with 10-15 names. Show them what other schools are doing-like the "Worst Inventions" club or the Book Escape Room. Schools are more likely to say yes to a small, low-risk test than a big proposal. If they say no, ask why. Often, it’s not about rules-it’s about fear of chaos. Show them you’ve thought through safety, space, and supervision.
How do I keep students from dropping out halfway through the term?
Change the rhythm. Don’t do the same thing every week. Mix in surprise elements: guest visitors, field trips (even just to a park), themed days, or collaborative projects with other clubs. Also, let students vote on the next activity. When they feel ownership, they stick around. And if someone leaves? Don’t take it personally. Some kids are just passing through. Keep the door open.
Can a club be fun without being "cool" or trendy?
Absolutely. Some of the most popular clubs are the ones that feel quietly unusual-like a knitting circle for guys, a silent reading lounge, or a club where you just talk about your favorite movies. "Cool" is fleeting. Authenticity lasts. Students notice when you’re not trying to be something you’re not. Be the club that lets people be themselves, even if that’s not what’s trending on TikTok.
What’s the biggest mistake teachers make with school clubs?
Trying to control too much. If you’re the one planning every activity, writing every agenda, and deciding who gets to speak, you’re not building a club-you’re running a club-shaped class. Let students make mistakes. Let them pick bad ideas. Let them fail. That’s where real learning happens. Your job isn’t to fix everything. It’s to make sure the space stays safe, welcoming, and open.
Do I need funding to make a club interesting?
No. The most memorable clubs cost nothing. A cardboard box, a pile of old magazines, a phone with a free app, and a group of kids who want to create something together-that’s all you need. Money helps, but it’s not the spark. The spark is curiosity, trust, and the freedom to experiment without pressure.
