Bustling crowds, people shouting on either side of you, ushering you toward their booth. It’s been less than a month of school and clubs around you are vying for you to fill out Google forms and sign up to an email list in exchange for a piece of candy.
Jefferson’s annual Activity Fair brings together all sorts of clubs to introduce them to the new freshman class. Tables are set out in a circle surrounding the gym, and freshmen walk through the set path. Given the large amount of clubs all looking for new members, some clubs resort to unique methods to stand out from the crowd.
Senior Elizabeth Thakuri played a rendition of the theme song for “The Promised Neverland” on taiko, a Japanese drum, for the Japanese Culture Club.
“We do, anime theme songs for performances and J-Day,” Thakuri said. “[Taiko] is a big part of what we do in JCC and it’s a big part of our [International Night] performances. A lot of people seem to receive it well.”
Freshmen and upperclassmen alike noticed the loud music from across the gym.
“Someone said that they could hear us outside [and] across the gym, so they were trying to follow the sound,” senior Sophia Huang said.
Another club, Jefferson’s crew team, also relied on sound and action to draw interest. Because the sport takes up two 8th period blocks per week during the spring, they were allowed to have a booth at the fair.
“We always like to bring out the ergs because that’s kind of a fan favorite of people being able to race their friends,” senior captain June Anderson said.
An ergometer, or erg, is a workout machine that simulates rowing on land. They produce gushes of wind and mechanical whirring when used.
“Once you get one or two people on the ergs learning, people notice because it makes a little bit of noise,” Anderson said. “The people that want to get on the erg and learn are more likely to join crew. It’s also fun to race your friends [and] get to know the fun of the sport.”
A third club relied on visuals rather than sound to attract attention: TJ Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV). Senior Niels-Oliver DeChaine held up a prototype plane manufactured by an alum to draw freshmen to their booth.
“My partner and I were walking around during the break and we saw Rocketry, and they had their rocket and so many sign-ups,” DeChaine said. “They’re like, ‘We just wave our rocket around and we get a lot of sign-ups.’ That’s how he came up with the idea. I don’t think it actually helped that much.”
Regardless of the actual effectiveness of the different strategies, upperclassmen still enjoyed meeting the incoming class and introducing the variety of clubs offered at Jefferson.
“I did it last year and I’ve always liked it,” Anderson said. “My voice always gets super hoarse afterward because I’m yelling and it can be kind of stressful, but it’s fun.”
