Planning school-wide events poses challenges for clubs, class councils

Fitness+teacher+and+Class+of+2021+adviser+Ginny+Clevenger+setting+up+for+the+2018+6v6+Volleyball+Tournament.

Alyssa Rasp

Fitness teacher and Class of 2021 adviser Ginny Clevenger setting up for the 2018 6v6 Volleyball Tournament.

Erica Sammarco

The final bell rings on Friday afternoon. Hundreds of students flow toward the doors, the joyful prospect of the weekend before them, but a small group stays behind. They gather in the cafeteria with a daunting task before them: four hours to set up a school-wide event for at least 100 attendees.

Hosting a CHS event requires enormous cooperation from many people. From selecting a date to setting up prior to the event, each step requires coordination with other clubs, students and teachers.

Senior Liam Marshall of Sea Girt, former executive member of the Class of 2019 council and current Student Government Association (SGA) president, said that communication between everyone involved poses a challenge when facilitating a CHS event.

“Keeping things running smoothly and making sure everyone is on the same page is definitely not an easy task,” Marshall said.

Junior Liam Jamolod of Howell, also a former class council member that now serves on SGA, instead said that the pressure of putting on a perfect event is the toughest aspect, especially when most of the planning falls on the five-person SGA council and adviser and health teacher Leah Morgan.

“It becomes stressful to try and account for every problem that can occur… some things will happen and we can’t do anything about it,” Jamolod said.

Unexpected issues are a major part of what makes CHS events difficult, said senior and Class of 2019 council member Connor Martin of Spring Lake Heights.

“All you can do is think on your feet, stay positive and be prepared for any scenario,” Martin said.

Jamolod shared this advice as well. He said that it is best to remain calm, even when complications arise.

“At some points you just get panicked at the time dwindling down to the event and start to rush even though the best thing to do is just calm down,” Jamolod said.

Although planning such large-scale events can be intimidating, Marshall said he still enjoys the process.

“Every event, no matter the difficulty, is always a blast and never a burden,” Marshall said.