About two months ago, I wrote an article about the HHS Chess Club and how well the club had been doing. There were dozens of members and frequent meetings with bigger events on the horizon. As of November third, however, the chess club, in all regards, went on hiatus, and what was once a prominent and growing club at HHS has been inactive for the last month. This was not due to the members of the club wanting to reorganize but was rather a byproduct of the teacher contract negotiations.
In December of 2022, teachers and other school officials began petitioning for stronger contracts. Since then, over the course of the last twelve months, many teachers have begun minimizing their services, which are not mandated in their contracts, including their availability before and after school to talk with students and, of course, the running of clubs.
Ryan Chang, a junior at HHS and the president of the chess club, reflected on how the negotiations, “really took away the momentum we had after a successful stand at the holiday fair.” Additionally, he recognized that, “the club’s obviously in a bad spot, but it’s not impossible that it gets back up off the ground.”
His touch of optimism is based in the fact that despite the majority of the clubs at HHS are advised by teachers, they do not have to be. For instance, at the beginning of the school year, the quiz bowl club found itself in a similar situation. With no advisor, and a tedious process ahead for bringing the club back, it seemed unlikely that the club would be back in time for its larger tournaments, or in any capacity for that matter. Tony Cicerone, a junior at HHS stated that, “We were able to get the club going again because one member’s parent was able to take over the position of advisor, and since then quiz bowl has been doing well.”
Although parents stepping in have been able to keep some clubs alive, this is not feasible for many smaller clubs that have gone on hiatus. Both Tony and Ryan reiterated that they recognize the necessity of the teachers doing what they are doing, but as long as negotiations remain unresolved, more clubs are likely to feel the effects.
