Most of the clubs and organizations people think of joining are at the end of the day on Fridays in GPS or after school. However, many students don’t know the difference between groups that are an actual class and which clubs are after school or in GPS.

The organizations that do happen in school are co-curricular classes. Instead of following the typical class, co-curricular classes require additional activities and time outside of the normal school day.  Co-curricular courses include yearbook production, newspaper production, band, AFJROTC, forensics, vocal music, some business and marketing courses, sports medicine, AcaDeca, and theater classes. Despite differences between them all, there is a much tighter connection between students participating in these courses, as compared to a regular classroom, because of the amount of additional time spent together. 

“Yearbook is nice; it can be very stressful at times, but it can be really fun. You meet a lot of people in yearbook that you will make friends with later on. I would definitely recommend kids looking into co-curricular classes like yearbook, seeing what they can get into and if they like it, and of course to meet new people,” yearbook Co-Editor in Chief Izabella Niesen said.

Co-curricular classes are a way to meet new people and enrich the school experience. Co-curricular classes also look good on college applications and give students extra skills they wouldn’t receive from an ordinary class. 

“We in JROTC participate in a lot of community events as well as do our training activities, like Escape and Evasion training where we head to one of the camps out in Ashland and have the cadets play war games where they try to find things and escape., It’s all teaching them camouflage, concealment things that kind of tie into what we do here in class,” Bellevue East’s AFJROTC instructor Lt. Col. Brian Yates said.

All of the activities Bellevue East provides are very different, some being a musical art like all the assorted band activities, choir, and some being a production class such as newspaper or yearbook. There is also the more community-based AFJROTC program. There are plenty of different classes available, so certainly there will be one for any kind of student out there.

“I’m a part of the marching band and show choir, and honestly, co-curricular classes are really fun. Granted, they can cost a lot of money sometimes, but in the end, the payout is amazing. You get to meet new people, you might end up knowing them all throughout high school and have a lot of fun every day,” junior Tristan Grommet said. 

The biggest benefit to co-curricular classes is that they are flexible classes because they are done both in and out of school. Students can learn about areas that interest them outside of traditional academic subjects, some of which might become future career pathways. 

“In my opinion, it’s great to have it during class so you can have that hour of just doing what you need to do to succeed in that class. Some kids can’t stay after school for clubs as much, especially in high school since people play sports and have jobs. It’s good to have that class time to do things you need,” Niesen said.