Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular activities are believed to play multiple roles for students: they stim-
ulate interest, occupy leisure time, provide opportunities for social interaction,
and enhance college applications. There are students who take full advantage of
these opportunities, fitting a remarkable assortment of activities into their sched-
ule and often extending the school day in both directions. A female senior whose
family had immigrated to the United States only a couple years earlier described
an intensive academic load that included several advanced-placement courses plus
participation in a select academic competition with other schools, an activity for
which she practiced during an additional school period and on holidays. Asked
if she had other extracurricular activities, she replied,
Yes, I am secretary of the national honor society. I am secretary of the French
club, the swim team, and the pom-pom club. I also am a math tutor. I see
so many interesting things and people, so I want to do and learn as much as
I can. Sometimes I don’t feel like I have time, but I try. (Twelfth-grader, Up-
town)
This student was one of many who described half a dozen or more activities in
which they were simultaneously involved. Many students play an instrument in

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the band or orchestra, an activity that also necessitates at-home practice. Some
schools offer athletic competition at various skill levels, including intramural, jun-
ior varsity, and varsity, in a dozen or more separate sports. Most lobbies in the
high schools we visited had large trophy cases that proclaimed years of victories.
Students can participate in student government and honorary societies, and they
may choose to assume roles with the school newspaper or yearbook. School theat-
rical productions draw many, including those eager to be on stage and those who
are happy behind the scenes. Interest clubs abound, including various social and
political action groups, chess clubs, and computer groups—and in the most afflu-
ent schools, groups that meet nearly every interest, however obscure. As one
Hamilton High School student remarked: ‘‘Man, I mean we even have a snake
club! We have a lot of things to do at this school.’’
Sports engage the lives of many, and though opportunities have increased for girls
over the decades, boys were more likely to talk about the role of sports in their
lives. Those involved in competitive sports may spend 2 to 3 hours daily in sched-
uled practice during the season. Some spoke of waking as early as 5:30 a.m. to
attend before school swim and gymnastics practices, and others talked of staying
till 6:00 p.m. on a daily basis. Opportunities also exist for less competitive athlet-
ics. The more casual participant may move from sport to sport through school
intramurals or community-based programs, and a number of students talked about
their involvement in three or more sports each year. A student at King Junior High
School, asked about the importance of extracurricular activities in his life, spoke
enthusiastically:
Well, they make school more fun for me . . . . I was on a basketball team
and that was fun, and it gives you exercise at the same time you’re having
fun, and I’m thinking about playing boys’ volleyball and running track.
Not all students attend schools that offer such a range of activities. Some students
described a pattern of engaging in school sports that were later eliminated in
budget cuts. At the most extreme end, one principal described the demise of his
school’s football team when a violent gang fight erupted on the field during com-
petition. Currently this school offers few interscholastic sports and no after-school
activities, as teachers are described as unwilling to stay after the school day ends,
because they are fearful for their safety. An African-American student at this
school enthusiastically described the single activity that she has found available:
My English teacher, she started a group for girls, cause we don’t have no girl
activities, but somebody donated a thousand dollars for us to start up our little
group that we call ‘Girls in the Hood.’ That’s coming along good. We make
a magazine, we write articles about sisterhood. It started about 2 months ago,
and we go on trips and stuff. Like we just went on a trip last Thursday. We
went to a writing workshop.

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In most schools, extracurricular activities also include programs of academic
enrichment. Many students spoke enthusiastically of academic competitions, such
as the Science Olympiad, academic decathlons, and math competitions, as well as
school and regional science fairs. For some of these activities, students must be
selected for participation by teachers, while others are open to all that wish to
participate.
In some schools, notably those in upper-middle-class neighborhoods, another as-
pect of extracurricular activities are social service projects, often initiated by
teachers at the middle school level as a way to heighten student awareness of the
larger world. Sometimes this is introduced as a part of ‘‘multiculturalism’’ in the
curriculum, alerting students to differing populations and differing needs. Typi-
cally, students select a cause and raise money for it within their own families by
selling tickets to school dinners or selling various. One student commented:
There are food and clothing drives for the needy. Right now the executive cab-
inet is doing something for the Leukemia Foundation. We are making hats for
sale with the school logo on them . . . . We are working on our eighth-grade
gift, and we will contribute this to the Leukemia Foundation. There is also a
spaghetti dinner or a pancake breakfast. These are fund-raisers. (Eighth-grader,
Vanderbilt)
Parents also talked about the role of extracurricular activities in their students’
lives. A high school parent at Springdale raved about the opportunities her daugh-
ter’s school offered:
If the parent is encouraging their child, and you have the type of child who
is geared to buy into the school community, they can really extract a lot of
experience. And then you find a niche here. Everyone is not a theater person,
everyone is not a musician, but you may have a math scholar, or you may have
a chess scholar, or you may have an athlete, or you may have a singer, or you
may have a writer. And I think that’s what’s so important.
For many parents and teachers, it is the pursuit and nurturing of individual inter-
ests that seem valuable. For some students, these activities also involved a strong
social aspect. For example, students in one of the theater groups spoke with pride
of the number of hours spent preparing for a performance and of the friendships
that grew from common interest and shared experiences. For other students, how-
ever, these choices may have more to do with building a resume and bolstering
college applications. Students attending high schools where the vast majority will
attend college know that they must distinguish themselves from others with simi-
larly excellent academic records. For such students, choosing extracurricular
activities can be quite calculated and lead to a life of frenzied activity as early as
middle school.

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A group interview with students at a large urban high school where most go on
to college generated an interesting discussion about the variety of opportunities
available and students’ motivation for involvement. One student noted:
I would say that a lot of people use extracurricular activities on their college
applications. It looks good for the college recruiters. Like languages. Or you
are president of student activities or something. (Eleventh-grader, Springdale)
Each school of this sort has its own legend of the rejected student who ‘‘only’’
excelled academically. One such story at this same school was about
. . . . a kid who graduated with perfect grades, was class valedictorian, was
third out of 1,100 in his class. He did not get into his school of choice because
he had done soccer all 4 years and that is it. They want more than just one
activity. The colleges want someone who is involved, who is spread out, who
spreads themselves out, and who does not do one thing throughout high
school. (Eleventh-grader, Springdale)
Such stories are indicative of the pressure some college-bound students feel to ap-
pear ‘‘well-rounded,’’ hoping that they will be able to develop an appropriate ros-
ter of activities for their college admission applications.