Executives of Marc Garneau’s Craft Club show off their handiwork to interested students at lunchtime on 5 November.

During the lunch hour on 5 November, over a dozen clubs gathered in the galleria for this year’s Clubs Fair. Well-known clubs such as Spelling Bee For Literacy and Youth Sarcoma Initiative returned to their tables against Garneau’s main hallway.  The event also hosted several new clubs such as International Heritage Club and World Without Worms along with a plethora of eager participants.

The executives and devoted members of each club were prepared to promote their clubs to students in the school. Preparations included bringing tea and rice from International Heritage Club, showing off handmade crafts from Craft Club, handing out neat little cards from Top Tutors, and displaying presentation boards as clubs emphasised  their importance and potential impact on the school community. Their perseverance is inspirational to the Marc Garneau student body, which has become more engaged with the school-provided extra curriculars.

Several notable clubs, such as Science Club, Muslim Students Association, or Eco Team did not appear at the Fair. Some clubs believed that it was due to the club council’s lack of advertisement and outreach in preparation for the event. Other executives believed the event was hosted too late in the year to yield too much of a turnout. Club executives who could not adequately prepare their presentations for the event cite schoolwork coming in their way. One president remarked “We had a lot of chemistry tests […] we couldn’t take the time to properly prepare for this”. Despite a meagre turnout, this year’s Fair was a good opportunity to reach out to Garneau’s student population.  “It was great to be able to answer students’ questions about who we are, or what we do in-person,” comments an executive of Top Tutors, “e-mail isn’t always reliable, and not everyone’s able to access Garneau’s SAC Facebook page, plus it’s always nice to talk to other students who are also interested in your cause.”

Co-written by Felipe Gonzalez, Mara Gagiu, and Daniel Pekar.