Rivers Annual Club Fair: A Student-led Showcase of Leadership and Innovation

Earlier in the day, during Upper School assembly, the leaders of each club made a brief “pitch” about their organization, urging students to visit their table and sign up. Upper School Dean of Student Life Will Mills encouraged students to come with an open mind and explore multiple club offerings. Clubs at Rivers, as he noted, are entirely student-led. While each club has a faculty advisor, students generally run club meetings independently, with the faculty member serving in an advisory or administrative capacity. 

In an earlier conversation about the “club culture” at Rivers, Mills—who oversees the club program—said, “Compared to other schools, Rivers has a really open and accepting policy for clubs. Any student who has an idea can write a proposal for a new club.” Students are in charge of coming up with the concept, finding a faculty advisor for the club, and setting goals. “It’s a great example of taking initiative and creating something,” Mills added.

At the lunchtime fair, students stood behind colorful displays touting their clubs, hoping to lure in new members with sales pitches, catchy graphics, and the always-effective candy giveaways. Every year a handful of old clubs are retired, and a few new clubs are launched; the fair gives students the opportunity to acquaint themselves with this year’s offerings.

Some of the new clubs this year included Streamline, a student-led STEM magazine; Brain Beats, a club with the aim of bringing music to elderly people living with Alzheimer's; Archery Club, started by competitive archer Cailyn Kim ’25; Food for Thought, a club for students to have open discussions and share thoughts in an accepting space; and Vote Forward, a nonpartisan group centered around writing letters to increase voter turnout in elections.

Clubs cover an extraordinarily wide range of interests. There’s Scientella, a student-run organization for female-identified students interested in the STEM fields, and BioBuilders, which aims to use technology and biology to “make things.” There are perennial Rivers-specific clubs such as Red Key (student Admission volunteers,) The Rivers Edge (student newspaper), The Nonesuch (student yearbook), and The Current (literary magazine); clubs with an academic focus, like Latin Club, Spanish Club, and Math Club; and longstanding groups like the Debate Club and Model UN. There are a handful of clubs dedicated to community engagement and others that are just for fun. 

Clubs and affinity groups meet on a rotation that allows for membership and participation in multiple areas, which is both common and encouraged. 

The Middle School held its club fair earlier, on September 20. While Upper School and Middle School typically have different schedules and separate club offerings, one club, Visual Storytelling (also led by Cailyn Kim) is open to students from both divisions. But for now, only Middle Schoolers can opt for membership in, for example, the notorious Hot Sauce Club. 

It may be no exaggeration to say that there’s a club for every interest at Rivers. And if there are any gaps, interested students are always encouraged to step up. “One of the things we support a lot is the creation of new clubs,” said Mills. “There is a process. They come to us with an idea, they find a faculty advisor, they set goals. But we are quick to approve, as long as the students do their due diligence.”