UHS hosted its first ever Service Club Showcase on Thursday, October 21. The event was similar to Club Kickoff in that clubs had the opportunity to publicize their club and attract new members, but this event was specifically for clubs classified as service clubs. 

The event was held at the Crossroads during lunch and included clubs like She’s the First, STEAM for ALL, UHS Democrats, and UHS Conservation Club. 

UHS ASB Service Project Commissioners Deven Gupta and Asher Do coordinated the event so that it coincided with the Irvine Public Schools Foundation’s Giving Day on the same day.

“Dr. Astor wanted to make it a big deal because he wanted it to be a tradition that we have going on years forward. In order to make it something, we did the service club showcase as well as started our shoe drive,” Gupta said.

Clubs that came to the showcase advertised their projects and gained potential new members who signed up for the clubs’ email lists. 

Each table had posters with the club’s information and club presidents and board members answered questions from interested students. 

“I think [the participating clubs] got an increased number of signups because they were able to have a booth set up and people were able to just walk by and talk to the members and say, ‘Oh wow this is a club that I want to join,’” Gupta said. 

Senior and She’s the First club president, Jasmine Nourisamie, was one of many presidents who were able to introduce their club to students at the showcase. 

“She’s the First is a club that revolves around feminism and works to raise money for girls’ education across the globe. The Service Clubs Showcase perfectly fit the theme of our club so it seemed like a great opportunity to advertise,” Nourisamie said.

Sophomore and STEAM for All club president Kerry Zhang was also able to introduce his project at the showcase.

“We felt like it was our responsibility as a service club to present ourselves to anyone who is also interested in [serving] their community, no matter how small the event is going to be,” said Zhang. 

UHS is hoping to continue having Service Club Showcases in future years with the help of earlier advertisement and support. 

“I wouldn’t say it was last minute, but it definitely wasn’t as planned out as it could have been. We got a good amount of clubs, but the problem was that it was on a weird day of the week, a Thursday, and there wasn’t much else going on to create any build up or hype around it,” Gupta said.

Despite the event being planned within a short amount of time, Gupta considers the event a success and looks towards the future to implement this event in future years.