Many students at Tunstall High School often talk about their advanced classes, school sports, and after school jobs, but few mention the many clubs here. Club advisors around the school have noticed a rapid decline in the amount of students willing to participate and compete in club activities. This has also posed a problem for students interested in doing more in their club than they are able with the small number of students.
DECA
For THS’s DECA club, in particular, it seems like less people join the club with the intention of participating every year. The club currently has around 40 members, only 5 of which attended states this year. Ms. Goard said, “about 40 percent of our members participate,” but this statistic mostly includes members at club meetings and not competition. Goard believes the students interested in clubs like DECA are in every club and said, “Kids have to share their time with other clubs, and they are spreading it thin.”
DECA’s club president, Lauren Gauldin, believes the lack of participation stems elsewhere, “It takes a lot of effort to show up, practice, study, and compete.” Gauldin has also found that members are more likely to show up when the club is offering something: snacks or a fun activity, but “very few people will show up for an informational meeting.” The lack of a large number of competitive participants has also caused Tunstall’s DECA club to be unable to participate in events larger chapters do: DECA Power Trip, DECA camp, and service opportunities.
BETA
The largest of Tunstall’s clubs, BETA, has also noticed a decline in participants. BETA advisor, Mrs. Watson, stated, “Interest has dropped in the last two years.” Watson also believes the lack of participation is mostly due to the busyness of students, “More students are working part time jobs and helping out at home; students have less time to participate.” Watson also mentioned that the wealth of an area directly affects how much students would be expected to help out home wise instead of adding to their scholarly achievements, “I think the participation depends on the economic statistics of an area.”
This trend can be seen in DECA too, as schools in Northern Virginia tend to have larger chapters than schools towards Southern Virginia. “Many schools in Northern Virginia require marketing students to join and participate in DECA,” Goard said.
To BETA members, it seems their small number of competitors is less obvious. BETA officer, Noah Williams, stated, “Our participation compared to schools in our district is a lot higher.” When placed against the lack of participation in other clubs around school and other BETA clubs in the district, 10-15 state participants seems like a good amount, “There could always be more participation even though the participation is not bad.”
Interact
Tunstall’s community service club, Interact, also has experienced lower participation compared to recent years, “I have noticed a decrease in participation since Covid but even more in the last year,” Adrian Nester, Interact advisor said. Nester also expressed a similar reason for the lack of participation and said, “I think kids are busy with work, school, and family responsibilities.”
The club president, Carolina Wheeler, stated, “The active members in the club graduated last year, and we haven’t been able to get many new ones.” To try to boost participation, the club has added a field trip to the Pittsylvania County Pet Center and God’s Pit Crew.
FFA
For FFA, the issue regarding participation is different because students taking agriculture related classes are automatically considered members of FFA. Participation in FFA is also required through all agricultural education course curriculum per the Virginia Department of Education
Encouraging Participation
In an effort to encourage more participation, both DECA and BETA implemented a junior club at Tunstall Middle School. For DECA, the junior club has only started back up since covid this year, “We have started a club at the middle school to have a sort of pipeline,” stated Goard. BETA, however, has had their junior club long running and it seems to get a lot of interest.
Watson also stated, “BETA tries to provide a large variety of choices of ways they can participate, depending on the time or money they have available.”
Overall, the loss of active club members has affected all clubs at Tunstall, and may continue to change the accessibility of clubs if it worsens. Wheeler stated, “We aren’t able to do a lot of activities, because there aren’t enough people willing to participate.”
The Benefits of Club Participation
Considering the amount of life skills students can learn and connections they can make from these clubs, the loss of club participation is more than disappointing. Gauldin stated, “DECA has given me new friends and helped me break out of my shell.”
Students who are active members of clubs find that the positives far outweigh the negatives extending their learning past the school day.
“BETA has taught me to become a better leader, helped me build relationships with people I never thought I would, and it’s just fun,” Williams said.
