ASB held its annual Club-a-Palooza spirit event on April 19-23 as an opportunity for clubs to attract new members and share their achievements over the past school year. No in-person activities or gatherings were permitted, and clubs celebrated the event on social media and with promotional materials, in accordance with COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Clubs in the hybrid and IVA learning models received the option to hang promotional materials, which included a maximum of 20 flyers on bulletin boards and two posters on the second floor rails of buildings on campus, according to clubs commissioner and junior Britney Vuong. 

On social media, clubs created one informative Instagram story or 15-second Instagram reel for display on the @portola.asb Instagram page.

“We’re keeping it pretty simple,” Healthcare Occupations Students of America club co-president and sophomore Varsha Raju said. “We just want to promote the fact that we’re a competition-based club and try to recruit members on that fact so that they get the opportunity to experience going to regionals or state or international level competitions, and also the different types of material that they’ll see or the types of events that they can partake in.”

Out of the 133 clubs operating this school year, 17 participated in the social media event, according to Vuong.

“One thing that was hard was getting clubs to do the projects and sign up for social media and doing posters,” Vuong said. “But obviously we’re not worried about that anymore because a lot of people are actually signing up for this.”

This year’s event was the second Club-a-Palooza that was held during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“To be honest, I haven’t seen any posters yet, but I bet that the posters would be colorful and welcoming for the students who might want to join the club,” freshman Lena Cho said. “As a student, I feel more involved and part of the school when I see club posters.”

In a traditional setting, Club-a-Palooza took place during an extended lunch period, with clubs setting up tables around the quad and selling items such as boba tea, Chick-fil-a nuggets and ramen to raise funds. 

“I just had higher expectations for high school,” Cho said. “It’s harder to understand what was going on because there is vague information about the clubs. I also wish there were more interactions between people in the club, because I don’t think I know anyone else in [Key] club, really.”

As the final weeks of hybrid learning approach, virtual Club-a-Palooza marked the milestone of a full year of virtual clubs.