Many new and pre-existing after-school clubs will hold their meetings together in the WA cafeteria following budget cuts, taking part in a new invention called the “Club Cafe.”
After financial reductions were made to Westford Public Schools in Sept. 2024, 25% of WA clubs were left without an adviser. For club leaders, it became increasingly hard to find teachers willing to devote time to advising after-school groups. However, instead of shutting these clubs down, Dean Betsy Murphy created the Club Cafe, providing any interested students with space to work creatively within WA. Clubs in the Club Cafe will be able to meet every Thursday from 2:25 p.m. to 3:25 p.m. in the cafeteria.
“It will be lively, which can be interesting and fun,” Murphy said. “[The Club Cafe] will allow people to meet weekly, every other week, or once a month, as long as they’re registered with a program that’s legit.”
Although Murphy is only allowing sophomores, juniors, and seniors to create these clubs, there is still a lot of freedom that will come with the Club Cafe for every grade. According to Murphy, since all of these clubs will be meeting at specific tables in the cafeteria, there will be more opportunities to explore different clubs; a result of the openness of the cafeteria and creating flexibility for students to move easily from table to table.
Even though these clubs do not have their own individual advisor, English teacher Emily Coates will be overseeing all clubs involved. Therefore, on the morning of Sept. 17, each club leader will meet with Coates and Murphy to talk about how the Club Cafe will operate. On that same morning, they will also be signing a contract that will outline the club’s daily agenda, ensuring the club leaders stay honest about what they are doing during each of their meetings. This contract is another way for Coates and Murphy to create structure within the bustling cafeteria.
“It will be an honor code where [the clubs] are doing what they say they’re doing at the table,” Murphy said. “So [it’s] a little bit less structured in terms of [not] being in a classroom with an adviser […], but also it’s kind of how the college scene works.”
Currently, there are about fifteen clubs that are registered for the Club Cafe, however, according to Murphy, they may be allowing more clubs to join in a few months, depending on how the start of the Club Cafe goes.
“[The Club Cafe] allows more clubs at WA [the opportunity] to participate that have always wanted to [create a new club] but do not have an adviser,” founder of Anatomy and Pathophysiology Club junior Ayanna Gupta said.
Although the Club Cafe brings many advantages to students, there are also some constraints on what different clubs can do in the space of the cafeteria. Certain clubs, such as the Anatomy and Pathophysiology Club, may be centered around hands-on studies. These tangible experiments could be a bit difficult to explore within the cafeteria according to Murphy. However, all clubs are encouraged to investigate and explore any topics they wish, as long as they are able to do it in the cafeteria.
Despite the Club Cafe being so new, many club leaders are excited to be able to launch their own club and have the opportunity to do it without having to find an individual adviser.
“I’m very excited for the Club Cafe overall, but mainly for meeting to solve case studies […],” Gupta said.
