Highlights: Fall 2026 Club Expo
Of all the Springs’ events, one stands apart from them all… Club Expo. As most of you probably know, Club Expo is our biannual fair where students are introduced to and invited to join the variety of student-led clubs that Springs has to offer. As someone who is starting their second year at Springs, Club Expo is a great way to meet new people and start trying new things, whether you’re new or you’ve been here for years. As a school community, Springs does an excellent job providing a space where any student can start virtually any kind of club, and have anyone join. Club Expo is planned and executed by the COCs with one in the fall semester and one in the spring. If someone wants to start a club, they need at least one faculty sponsor, and to fill out the form that the commissioners typically send out the week before. From there, it is pretty common, but not required, to make a poster with the name and details of the club and a sign-up sheet listing the necessary information to make a GroupMe, or whatever you may use to communicate with new members. In my somewhat limited experience, it is also semi-customary to offer snacks for people who sign up (as either a bribe or a prize, depending on how you look at it).
Regardless, Club Expo also demonstrates the wide range of interests that the Springs student body has to offer. Using examples from this past Club Expo, we have more academic or specific-interest-based clubs like HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) and DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America), more art focused clubs like The Mire, Writer’s Inc., Crochet Club, and NAHS, clubs that empower others like STAWP and Girlspring, culture and religion based clubs like Jew Crew, BSA (Black Student Association), and Latino Club, and personal interest clubs like DnD Club and Fishing Club, to name a few.
As it is planned by two new people each semester, every Club Expo is different. As far as continuity goes, I saw the same trend of most clubs offering food to those who join, large poster boards used as signs detailing the clubs, and the relatively high participation. However, as expected, a good number of things changed this year too. First, everyone’s favorite topic right now, the phone policy. This affected the usual system of club signups, where people would just scan a GroupMe code in order to join a club, and forced club heads to go analog, using either paper sign up sheets or a computer. Along with this, the one thing that was noticeably different was the location. In my, once again, limited experience with Club Expo, it is typically held on the lawn outside of Engle with tables set up across it. This year, however, it was held in the Dining Hall because of how hot it’s been this school year. While the consideration and AC were appreciated, it was very crowded with almost the entire school community in attendance. As a club head, I found it pretty difficult to talk to people interested in joining, and, as a participant, I also found it hard to see all the clubs that were there. So, I fear I may be partial to outdoor Club Expo.
Whether you liked the location or not, with nearly everyone I talked to, especially new students, saying that they’d joined 1 or more clubs, I’d say this year’s Club Expo was a success.