Fort Hamilton’s annual club fair took place on Thursday, October 23rd. The 83rd Street gym was closed for the duration of the day to showcase Fort Hamilton’s new and returning clubs to all students. Leadership students, activities coordinators and club leaders worked together to smoothly carry out a day of making this year’s clubs visible to Fort’s community.
The 45 clubs that participated in the fair invited all students to take a look at what the school has to offer in the realm of clubs, but it was especially important for new students to explore the school community and become involved in extracurricular activities.
“It’s all about connecting to the kids of the community,” said Mrs. Russo, Fort’s coordinator of student activities who helped organize the fair for the first time. She explained that for freshmen, the fair “gives them community and a connection to the building.”
As with every year, club members had to submit applications two weeks prior to the fair. Each year, a collection of new and returning clubs apply to make up Fort’s extensive roster. During this time, clubs create flyers, which can be posted on specific bulletin boards around the school and on social media after they have been approved by Leadership.
This year’s turnout exceeded expectations. Student Activities Coordinator Mr. Alvear structured the fair so as to allow students to browse the club tables, while not interrupting the school day or allowing students to skip out on classes.
“I was very happy with the turnout; I think I spoke to about 1,800 kids yesterday,” said Mr. Alvear, the student activities coordinator at Fort Hamilton, this year being his fourth club fair. “But on this day I got to talk to that many kids and I think they all left happy.”
This year’s club list was refined as much as possible to place emphasis on individual club attendance and sustainability. The often extensive club list was shortened this year by combining similar clubs, creating a smaller list of unique clubs. In total, Fort offers 74 clubs for the 2025-26 school year, coming from a list of 100 applicants. Ms. Russo emphasized that it was important to “sustain clubs” and Mr. Alvear remarked that “sometimes, less is more.”
This year, the state’s new phone law created a unique challenge for the clubs. Usually, clubs would be able to share the codes to their google classrooms with QR codes in order for students to easily enroll.
Those who ran tables at the club enjoyed the fair, mentioning that it was a great opportunity to meet new people while they promoted their clubs.
“A lot of people showed interest in the club,” said junior Imran Aamoum, who helped run the table for the Robotics Club. “It’s one important way of getting more members. It was very fun.”
