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PARK RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL
Extra-Curricular Clubs/Activities Offered to Grades 7 & 8
Art Honor Society
Membership requirements: open to all students
The Art Honor Society is a club that meets after school two to three times a month. The purpose of the club is to enhance the school aesthetic and use art to communicate with the school and the Park Ridge community. In the past, the club has painted murals in the school buildings, painted signs and Halloween decorations for the town, made sculptures and paintings for the PRHS media center and West Ridge elementary school. Our members have also volunteered with the elementary students at the “Parent’s Night Out” event.
Brain Busters
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8
Brain Busters is a team, "Jeopardy" style club with questions that cover a variety of topics including history, sports, geography, and music--just about any topic. Competitions take place once a month against other Bergen County schools. Students miss their afternoon classes for these competitions and return to school during the last period.
Chess Club
Membership requirements: open to all students
The Chess Club is open to students in grades 7 through 12 for students who have played before or for students who are interested in learning the game. There are many chess boards for the students to compete against each other or other faculty members. Within the club, different strategies are spoken about: openings, end game, sacrificing pieces for position, etc. While we have not entered any tournaments yet, we would love to compete against other schools in the near future.
E.R.A.S.E. (End Racism and Sexism Everywhere) Club
Membership requirements: open to all students
The E.R.A.S.E. club provides students and staff a venue to discuss the topic of racial inequality. The benefits of this club cannot be understated as it will help us in our quest to provide a school climate that promotes acceptance, diversity, tolerance and safety. Even students who do not directly participate in the E.R.A.S.E. club will benefit from a school environment that reinforces enhanced inclusion, respect, and tolerance.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)
Membership requirements: open to all students
Fellowship of Christian Athletes or FCA (formerly known as the Christian Club) is an interdenominational group founded in 1954, with the vision of seeing the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes. FCA’s core values are integrity, serving, teamwork, and excellence. Students who attend FCA meetings will be inspired to apply Biblical principles and integrity in all areas of student life, including academics, student involvements, social relationships, and especially sports involvements and performance. All are welcome to attend.
Homework Club
Membership requirements: open to all students
Homework Club is an opportunity to work on school assignments and is available to all PRHS students. It is supervised by teachers and is offered Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the mornings from 7-7:45 am and in the afternoons from 2:45-3:45 pm. National Honor Society members are there to give help to anyone who needs it. It is a quiet place to get school work completed with access to help, the internet, and to our school printers.
International Thespian Society
Membership requirements: open to all students who participate in 2 theater productions
Students who demonstrate dedication to at least two Park Ridge High School theatrical productions may join the International Thespian Society, an honors organization for theater students. Troupe 4629 of the International Thespian Society assists the school productions with advertising, supports the local food banks through community service, and stages a one-act play festival featuring the work of PRHS playwrights each May.
Literary Magazines:
Middle School – Stepping Stones
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8
Stepping Stones Literary Art Magazine is an extracurricular student-run publication that showcases the creative writing and artistic talents of a variety of Park Ridge Middle School students. The magazine is worked on throughout the entire school year by a group of students who signed up to be on the magazine staff at an interest meeting held at the beginning of the school year in September. There are two faculty advisors who facilitate and organize meetings and technical aspects of the magazine. Every student in grades 7 and 8 is offered the opportunity to submit original works of literature and art to the magazine staff until April of the publishing year. Their submissions may be generated from classroom assignments or self-motivated pieces written specifically for the magazine.
Marching Band/COLOR GUARD
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-12 who play an instrument or want to be in the Color Guard
The Marching Band was established in 1986 and performs in the fall for football games, in the county, regional and state competitions as well as at Metlife Stadium and Montclair University. The Marching Band consists of instrumentalist and Color Guard members who learn dance and flag work to enhance the show. Any student in grades 7 through 12 playing an instrument or willing to be a guard member is eligible to participate. The Marching Band is one of the best Group II Marching Bands in the state of New Jersey and has won numerous state, regional and county championships.
Math Club, Middle School
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8
The aim of the Middle School Math Club is to stimulate enthusiasm and love for mathematics. The club hopes to strengthen mathematical intuition as well as foster creativity and develop mathematical flexibility in solving problems. The club has students compete in five monthly contests administered from November through March through Math Olympiads as well as an additional math league contest administered in February. The math contests give students an educationally enriching opportunity and enables them to participate with children all over the globe.
Middle School Book Club
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8
Middle School Book Club allows readers to discuss books in a comfortable, casual setting. The informal atmosphere allows the students to get a better understanding of the book by voicing their opinions, hearing other perspectives, and asking questions.
Middle School Play
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8 via audition
The Middle School Drama is an after-school extracurricular that offers students a myriad of opportunities to get involved with theater: to perform on stage, to learn the aspects of theater lighting, sound design, set construction, costume design, and construction, etc. The students are mentored by advisors and high school student directors who teach them the traditions of PRHS’s Little Theater Players. The Middle School Drama performs musicals and plays alternating each year so students will have experience performing in both as they enter high school. The Middle School Drama has also performed at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, at East Brook and West Ridge Elementary Schools and are always looking for community outreach programs.
National Junior Honor Society (middle school)
Membership requirements: open to students in grade 8 with a GPA of 94% and above & who uphold the Society’s standards of scholarship, leadership, service, citizenship, and character
Membership in the National Junior Honor Society is one of the highest honors that can be awarded to a middle school student. The purpose of this organization is to recognize academic achievement, to complete community service, to promote leadership, to develop character, and to encourage good citizenship. The Park Ridge National Junior Honor Society chapter requires that each student complete community service.
Newspaper-OWL
Membership requirements: open to all students
Students work collaboratively and independently to produce content for the school newspaper, “PRHS Night Watch.” Students are encouraged to create content based on their interests. The club offers opportunities to explore video production, video editing, photography, podcasting, writing, and editing.
Quiz Bowl
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8
Quiz Bowl is a competitive team that practices questions that cover all aspects of topics including current events, sports, popular culture, and academics. The students practice during the school and compete with other Bergen County teams. The two major aspects of a school’s quiz bowl program are practicing and competing in tournaments.
React
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8
React is a club for junior high students that helps others or people in need. The club is involved with many aspects of volunteerism and service. The motto of the club is “service before self.” This club gets involved with current issues, for example, hurricane disaster relief and with projects sponsored by the American Cancer Society and other charitable organizations.
Robotics Club, Middle School
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8
The Middle School Robotics Club builds and designs a robot out of metal, programs the robot to be remotely controlled, wires the electronics, conducts fundraising and markets to the local community for sponsorships and support. Students learn a host of skills that are directly applicable to future careers. They learn principles of design, engineering and computer science. Between October and January, we have a handful of meets and qualifying events during which the robot needs to accomplish a set of tasks autonomously and by remote control. The rest of the year we spend learning and redesigning.
S.A.D.D.
Membership requirements: open to all students
Students Against Destructive Decisions (S.A.D.D.) is a club that promotes healthy adolescent development. S.A.D.D. often focuses on topics such as bullying, substance abuse, stress management, friendship and dating issues, family communication skills, and many other topics related to healthy adolescent development.
Science Ecology Club (middle school)
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8
The Middle School Science Club provides extra-curricular opportunities for a student to learn more about science than they learn in the classroom. The science club offers students hands-on experiences with science. Students can explore their own interests and expand their knowledge with group or solo activities. Group activities help students learn to work together to come up with ideas to solve real-world problems. We hold several fundraisers throughout the year which allows students to give back to their community.
Student Council, Middle School
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8 via election
The Middle School Student Council works together to promote leadership and civic responsibility among students. The Middle School Student Council plans events, projects, fundraising, and any other ways to make a positive impact on Park Ridge Middle School. The student council meets once a week and attends the high school student council meetings as well. It also gives students an opportunity to participate in leadership roles such as class president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and class representatives.
Student Library Advisory Board
Membership requirements: open to all students
The Student Library Advisory Board is offered to all middle and high school students. Members support the library by recommending and planning programs for students, creating bulletin boards, suggesting books for the library to purchase, and generally advising the library on ways to meet the needs of today's teens.
Women’s Choir
Membership requirements: open to all female students
The Women’s Choir is a non-auditioned choral ensemble open to ladies in grades 7 through 12. The group generally meets once a week to rehearse a wide variety of repertoire for the winter and spring vocal music concerts. No experience is necessary, just a desire to sing and perform!
Yearbook, Middle School
Membership requirements: open to students in grades 7-8
The Middle School Yearbook allows students the opportunity to provide insight and content throughout the design process of the yearbook. Students can take part in the cover design, picture selection, and layout. This is a chance to be creative and help create a middle school yearbook that students can appreciate for a lifetime.
