Through the club that she contributed towards, Medlife, Annika Kak (12) has seen change and impact directly in the lives of individuals. Last year, a guest student physician assistant spoke to students about what a PA (physician assistant) is and what their scope of practice surrounds. Students who had never heard of the career option due to its niche sphere were introduced to options other than nurses and doctors. Moreover, two students who were present during the presentation ended up making the decision to enter the pre-physician assistant track in college.
And for Molly Geiger (12), apart from countless enriching opportunities, clubs allowed an outlet for connections. “I joined [Best Buddies] freshman year, because my friend said she was going to join to make more friends within our school. We both came from a private Catholic school, and then she ended up not joining, but I did.” Through Best Buddies, Molly met two separate students from her private school, and was paired with both of them in different years. “There was kind of a community with [my school] that I didn’t know existed.” She described.
There are other reasons to be involved in school clubs excluding self discovery, the building of relationships, and leadership. In fact, a primary reason that students join volunteer-based clubs is the opportunity to earn service hours.
Fairfax County Schools (FCPS) defines service learning as “a teaching method designed to involve students in authentic and meaningful service to their communities.” In order to earn a Service Learning Cord at graduation, students must earn 40 total volunteer hours and track them through x2vol.While external opportunities exist, students can easily earn hours by joining school clubs.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an activism group that brings attention to those wrongfully committed around the world. When asked for examples of club events, Zuliyaer Yiliya (11) replied, “We write letters to the higher levels of jurisdictions, say like a country’s Supreme Court, asking them to appeal or lower sentence[s] because [they are] wrong and morally unjust.”
Zuliyaer, the club events manager, is in charge of developing ideas to make club meetings enjoyable. In terms of upcoming events, Zuliyaer announced, “We will have this opportunity called Write for Rights, you can earn up to 10 service hours in one day and we’re just going to write as [many] letters as we can…trying to help as [many] people as we can.”
In order to join Amnesty, simply look out for meeting information and posted dates through the club social media page and announcements.
Best Buddies
Open-join student organization Best Buddies pairs students with and without IEPs, Individualized Educational Plans, together to develop support families that meet twice a month on Wednesdays. Best Buddies “We do a lot of friendship building activities,” Molly Geiger (12), the event’s coordinator, added. “ We just recently had a friendsgiving.”
In the spring, Best Buddies as a national organization, covers significantly more opportunities. For example, they fundraise for the annual spring Friendship Walk in DC to support inclusion. Money raised in the friendship walk is used to create more opportunities for people with IEPs, including job opportunities and offering familial support that many do not have.
Students can also receive volunteer hours through additional fundraising. Molly explained, “We do door to door fundraising, and you get hours for coming out with us and helping us fundraise. And then we also do a bake sale, so people can bake the goods, which is [a volunteer] hour, and then spend time with us selling them, which is another hour.”
Days for Girls
Days for Girls is another service organization in Oakton presided by Bella Biglete (11). Globally, they focus on making reusable menstrual kits for girls in third countries who unfortunately have to miss school due to the stigma that prevents them from attending school during their cycles. However, since they can’t sew, they help with the assembly line. Bella described, “The people in the club, we give them little templates ,and they basically mark where the adults will sew them, or encourage them to make the final product.”
Days for Girls is a low commitment club that meets once a month on Mondays, and is also an open join club—meaning that anyone who is interested in joining is able to. “Unfortunately,” Bella detailed, “It’s mostly girls.” Bella expressed a desire to encourage participation from students of all genders. “Not just making the products but also talking about [female hygiene] and making it a normality as it should be.”
Healing Through Hearts
As club secretary Molly Geiger (12) summarized, Healing Through Hearts focuses on a variety of activities such as making cards for “ military members, people in the hospital, just kind of like giving back to the community.” For their upcoming events, Healing Through Hearts is looking forward to hosting a food or toy donation in December, offering ample volunteer hour opportunities through the process of food donation and delivery.
There are no requirements to join the club as they are not centered around attendance. “You can come and go as you please, just get your hours and help out with the community.” Molly elaborated, detailing the true duality purpose of the club. Furthermore, club meetings take place once a month, and the email list for updates can be found through contacting the club on Instagram.
Linens and Love
Linens and Love is a club that has persevered through several adversities. “We were originally a linens club where we recycle linens and we give it back to homeless shelters to reuse,” Jocelyn Fong (11), the club president, shared about its origins. “However, now, we don’t do that anymore and we’re now just an environment and sustainability club.” Backlash from admin prompted the change, but since then, Linens and Love has grown even stronger.
Linens and Love partners with an FCPS initiative called IMA, which offers monthly opportunities to clean up invasive species through Fairfax County. Linens and Love is an open-join club, and more information can be found through the club Instagram page.
Medlife
Medlife, a recent addition to the list of Oakton clubs, celebrates its third year this year. Annika Kak (12), the current president, has been serving in leadership for two years. Medlife, or Medicine Education and Development Life, is a club that is versatile, offering opportunities in every interest. “We’ve [made] holiday cards for teachers,” Annika explained. At the same time, the club has done research projects for service hours, Instagram post developments, and work in all categories. Similarly, Medlife also developed awareness posters about different diseases and public health issues.
Oakton Pantry
For those interested in supporting over 30 food-insecure families with students attending Oakton, the Oakton Pantry club makes that possible. The Pantry Club is a simple way to become further involved within Oakton High School, earn volunteer hours, and impact the lives of families, simultaneously. Parisa Khan (11), the co-president and volunteer manager, added that apart from packing weekly grocery bags, the Pantry club has holiday specials to make families feel loved. “Sometimes, during holidays or Thanksgiving, we give out a little extra stuff. Last year, they were able to request gifts.”
Bags are packed on Tuesdays near the main office, and are distributed on Thursdays when there is school on both days. To join the mission towards impact, the only necessary step is to scan the code for the Remind and sign up for opportunities through SignUp Genius. “We ask that you try to show up at least once or twice per quarter,” Parisa inserted, “But we have over 150 members on our Remind, so we do have a lot of people interested in volunteering.”
Operation Smile
Shreyes Aier (12), the president of Operation Smile, detailed the impact that the club has on children with cleft lip and palate, gaps in the lip or palate that prevent children from eating, drinking, and speaking clearly. The organization itself focuses on providing means of speech therapy and nutrition to those children with facial deformities, and local student chapters assist with advocacy.
Operation Smile also has several volunteer opportunities throughout the school year. “In every meeting, we do at least one service project,” Shreyes mentioned as an example. “These service projects can have a range for making cards for children who have cleft lip and palate, or it could be a community service project we do for the school, or our local community at Oakton.”
For those interested in participating, Operation Smile meets every other week on Tuesdays after school, making it another lower pressure volunteer club that remains both enjoyable and accessible. To become a member, as Shreyes articulated, “All you have to do is come to one of our club meetings, and [then] you’re automatically part of our club.”
Positivity for Patients
Positivity for Patients, or P4P, focuses on making seasonal and holiday cards for cancer patients at the UVA children’s hospital. The club president, Sophia Luo (11), directly delivers the cards herself. “It’s usually like a foldable card,” Sophia explained, “ The first page has a design that the student will do. When you open it, it has like a little message… cheer [the cancer patients] up and then root for them.”
Positivity for Patients offers an easy and direct way to influence others’ lives. Additionally, meetings are only once a month. Sophia explained, “I try to make it like the beginning of the month so I give everyone time to do the cards before I send them.” The only requirement to be involved in the club is to develop two to five cards per month, earning up to five service hours, showing many potential opportunities. In order to become a member, the only necessary steps are to show up to the meetings. Any questions can be directed to the club email or Instagram DMs.
These opportunities can empower students to reach the goals that they need to attain, and through leadership and service experiences, students can reach volunteer hours and overall fulfillment.
