Francis Howell Central has an extensive array of after-school activities and clubs — numbering to a little over 40. Some clubs have their leadership elections with differing officer positions like president, vice/co-president, secretary, treasurer, and so on and so forth. But many students don’t really know what these leaders do, outside of their own clubs: and even then, they don’t know much. Overall, officers keep their clubs organized, and help enhance its members’ experiences.

Kiki Sanders-Fritz, junior and president of the Diversity Club for three years, said, “our [officers] keep the club focused. We’re all teenagers and we get off track,” Sanders-Fritz said. “All of us have a lot of ideas, so I think [club leaders] help center us to make sure we’re on track. And [Diversity Club] comes with a lot of different ideas, so it’s very important that the social media and co-presidents present well.”

National Art Honor Society also has presidential elections, and last year’s president, senior Layni Murray, said NAHS officers also make a huge difference.

“I feel like one of the biggest things I did was make other people feel welcome and make sure everyone had a place — even if they weren’t good at art,” Murray said. “They can still come in and be with their friends, feel welcome. It’s not like a select sort of group thing.”

Depending on the year’s officers, the direction of club meetings changes, according to Murray.

“A previous president, no hate, didn’t do much. I know that last year we definitely did more group-wise and activity-wise because I wanted to have an in-depth club, rather than just meeting every Monday and doing nothing. I tried to have a bigger impact on [the club] than in the past, and I feel like that’s been noticed by people,” Murray said.

Future Business Leaders of America holds its elections at the end of the year. Officers then spend the next school year in their positions. Especially in a multifaceted club that covers many areas of business and participates in related competitions like FBLA, group organization and a positive experience for its members are important for its success.

“I think that they basically structure the club and make an example for what we hold the people in our club to a standard,” senior Kylie Goodman and this year’s president of relations, said. “I know the main leader last year was really focused on bringing friendship to the club, and it definitely still has a lasting impact because so many people in the club are really close friends and all get along. So it’s more of a family than just like a club.

“[Officers] definitely make an impact because we encourage the students of FBLA to be a positive role model—especially when it’s talking about other clubs—and we just impact them by helping them influence how they can do certain things and lead them to learn new things and push their boundaries in a way that they can learn more.”

Especially as a club that centers around preparation for business, helping members put themselves out there and be more confident is crucial. Learning skills like these are valuable and applicable to the future, but for business in particular? It’s almost necessary for success.

Along with keeping their clubs together, leaders and officers have specific duties assigned to them involving the club.

“As president I make the agendas, and I organize and communicate with our sponsor and anybody outside of the club. The co-president fills in if I’m not able to run a meeting, and they get input and help support me on our social media by putting out photos and information from our meetings. Our secretary makes notes of the meetings, jots everything down and keeps a record, and they fill in if the co-president and president aren’t able to be there or need help. And then our treasurers help with our shirts, our field trip: anything like that. It’s very important that we’re all like a big team,” Sanders-Fritz said.

FBLA’s officers have positions similar to Diversity Club’s, but with additional officers specialized towards business. However, both clubs depend on their officers to foster a friendly and welcoming environment.

“We have an officer for fundraising, and one for membership, one for competition, offices like that. And I know that in some of the bigger clubs like DECA, everybody knows who their president is. I feel like it really tells people that you are someone who people can lean on, you’re going to be like a nice person, and that you’re going to treat people respectfully,” Goodman says.

As central members of their clubs, leaders and officers often lead activities and events open to students, teachers, families, and anyone willing to enjoy a night out — Goodman mentioned FBLA’s upcoming trunk-or-treat and other events, and both NAHS and Diversity Club have events and activities of their own.

“The Fine Arts Festival is one of the biggest things we do. Making sure that we have a Fine Arts Festival that’s successful every year is such a big thing; I know last year more people came to it than they did the year before, which was great because we it had so much more stuff and was much more interactive: which are ideas that [the officers] came up with,” Murray said.

The Fine Arts Festival also supplies money for a college scholarship NAHS offers to one senior club member pursuing the arts and largely contributes to the club’s funding, so the festival’s success has been important to NAHS.

Diversity Club manages a yearly activity/event, too.

“We put on the diversity months, like Black Heritage Month. We do those slides and the announcements, and some of the games. And then if you see any, we have a lot of posters that we hang up,” Sanders-Fritz said.

Without officers, clubs would certainly be less organized, and maybe even disjointed. Regardless of position, these leaders have significant impacts on their members and community. As representatives of their clubs, leaders work to make them more hospitable towards new and existing members and try to make a positive difference in their environment, regardless of who or what they’re interacting with. “Our officers are really good people that aren’t only good at business associated things,” Goodman says. “They’re also great leaders and impact a lot of people in a good way.”

This story was originally published on FHC Today on November 14, 2024.