Think of all the times your child has come home from school bored out of thier mind. With nothing else to do, they sit down on the couch and waste hours away on their phone, but still feel unsatisfied. Because of our principal, students will spend less time on their phones and more time in the real world. Requiring these extracurriculars will help students make new friends, develop new interests, and fill up time that would otherwise be used on technology.

When students sign up for an extracrricular that they are interested in, they will meet new people that share the same interest as them, and can form friendships from that. Since these students will be spending time together out of school, they can easily persue these friendships and help them grow. This also gives them the opportunity for more social time, which school does not allow much of. Because these students are with others that are similar to them, they have time to talk with people who enjoy the same types of activities and maybe even more. Without this shared interest in their sports team or club, they may never have met during their school years. Extracurriculars can help connect different kinds of people and make lasting friendships.

If a student signs up for an activity that they are interested in but have never had the chance to learn about, this will help them develop different interests and explore them. Our activities include student body government positions, sports, and creative art programs such as the yearbook club. These kinds of clubs help students find new hobbies and interests which they can apply themselves to. New interests help students strive to work harder to learn more and perform better, and these extracurriculars are giving all of the students in our school that opportunity. Many people in this school may not put themselves out there on their own, but with help from our principal they will realize how it can be fun to work together with others in interesting activities.

Finally, the required extracurriculars help keep students from being on their phones everyday. Children in their teens spend too much time on technology, and are becoming obssesed. It is the digital age, but it is not healthy for them to be on their phones all the time. With other fun activities outside of school, they can actually interact with ther friends rather than watching YouTube or texting them. Face to face interactons are good for teens, and they do not spend enough time talking to their friends in real life. Activities with their friends can help them get outside and run around while spending time with people, or use their minds to create fun art while having a good time. Being away from technology is the best way to become a happier person, and teens need to learn that to help them with the rest of their life. These extracurriculars will make the students' middle school years more successful, but more importantly it will make their overall experience better.

Activities outside of school are a good opportunity for students, because of the many benefits to them. These extracurriculars help them make new friends and have social time with them, develop new interests, and fill up time that would be used on their phones otherwise. Some may say that that these required activities are forcing teens to do things that they do not want to do, but because of the wide range of clubs and sports offered, there is an activity for everyone. This program set up by our principal is only helping the students participate more in their school and use all of the wonderful activities to their advantage. They have so many wonerful programs here at our school, and this just helps students really discover how great they are through participation. So when your child is signing up for a sports team, art club, or an achedemic club, remember that this is an opportunity for your student to learn and grow.