Students have many opportunities to try new things and have new experiences through the clubs that are available to them at Valley. Clubs offer times when anyone can meet up and participate in activities hosted by the club sponsor. 

Despite how popular they are, it may surprise some students to know that clubs have been present at Valley for a very long time. Clubs have always been present here, with clubs like debate having been around since 1962. And the number has only continued to grow. 

Principal Susan Ross, who has worked at Valley for 21 years, stated that there were around 20 clubs when she first got here. 

“The number of clubs has been growing ever since then,” Ross said. “So now I know we have over 50.” 

“We’ve definitely added probably as many as 20 clubs since I’ve been here in the last two years,” Wendi Walker, student activities and engagement coordinator, said.

Some teachers who went here as students years ago note how different clubs are nowadays. 

“I feel like we had longer club meetings back in high school, but it could have been because I was leading club meetings,” Susan Magurn, history teacher and PRISM advisor, said. “PRISM is the gender and sexuality alliance, and mostly we just provide a space, a safe space where students can hang.”

Due to how long clubs have been around at Valley, there are plenty of instances where teachers take over as sponsors instead of being the first to sponsor a club.

“The librarians ran it before me,” English teacher Eileen Lowry, who sponsors Project Lit, said. ““It’s a nationwide book club that provides diverse, interesting, modern books to students.”

Clubs have always been a part of Valley in one form or another, and because of them, for decades, students have been able to express themselves in creative ways. 

“Because our clubs are student-driven and student-created,  there’s a place for everyone,” Walker said. “Or if there isn’t a place for you, you can create that place for you.”