As the school year began, it seemed as though some clubs such as yearbook, Junior Council of World Affairs (JCWA, or Model UN), tech crew and drama club could be at risk due to  lack of advisers.

These vacancies presented a challenge for the administration, but fortunately, most have now been filled.

Advisers who have recently resigned from these positions cite enormous time commitment as a reason for stepping down.

According to BHS Principal Ed Klein, new advisers must go through a multi-step interview process because candidates must meet some important criteria.

“[We first] try to find somebody within the staff,” Klein said. “I think it’s important to have a relationship with our school and with our students, but you want somebody who knows the subject area.”

For example, a JCWA adviser must be familiar with the research and presentation skills central to success at any conference, and a drama advisor should have a theater background.

If he is unable to find an adviser from within the staff, Klein searches outside the school.

“I just kind of go out on the street and start shouting,” he joked. “No, what I [do] is call my contacts in other school districts.”

Drama Club

The time commitment is the number one reason former drama club adviser Sheila Heyman decided to leave.

“I’ve been doing this for 18 years and directed 39 shows,” Heyman said. “One of the big reasons I decided not to do it anymore [is] because over the last couple years, I’ve been taking a course in dog training… I need to work with mentor trainers and in order to do that, I have to have my evenings and my weekends free.”

She added that she virtually lives at the school during shows. In addition to having rehearsals every Monday through Thursday, there are the occasional weekend rehearsals.

“When I’m not rehearsing, I’m choreographing or prop running or out looking for costume pieces, so it’s not just the time I spend in school,” she said.

At publication, a new adviser named Pierre Brault has been hired. Drama club members are looking forward to meeting him, and hoping things won’t change too much this year.

“We’re not sure yet, instead of having a fall and spring show, we’re probably just going to have one show in the middle of the year. It might be a dinner theater kind of thing. We’re still looking into that,” junior Wendy Pineda-Gonzalez said.

Tech Crew

However, things aren’t looking quite as good for tech crew.

“If I were to say where I was right now in finding a tech director, it’s not looking very good,” senior Max Bleich said.

The administration has given him the go-ahead to lead tech crew, but he still needs an adult with experience to advise the group.

“[We need somebody] who could at least be there to make sure all hell doesn’t break loose,” Bleich said.

Because drama and tech can’t reach their full potential without the other, the school will not have any plays at least until drama club has an adviser.

Bleich hopes that English teacher Nicole Majercak will come back to advise tech. Majercak declined to comment.

According to Bleich, the tech club needs an adviser who is easygoing, knowledgeable about tech and theater, but who can make sure that people stay on task and can give direction well.

Yearbook

Alise Stawicki, the Oculus’s new adviser, will have large shoes to fill this year.  Finding an adult to advise this club was crucial, according to Student Activities Coordinator Craig Alexander.

“Yearbook is a vital part of high school. It keeps students’ memories,” Alexander said. When students leave Beachwood, the Oculus is a way they can retain some of the uncountable memories they made in their high school years.

Condensing so many memories into one hardback book is a lot of work–according to TV production teacher Kevin Houchins, one of last year’s yearbook advisers. He was unable to balance this commitment with everything else on his plate.

“The Oculus is a lot [of work] to put together, so I just want to focus on my family and on Bison TV,” Houchins explained.

JCWA

Klein has now found co-advisers for JCWA, technology teacher Gus Matheou and Sara Bargiel. The club has now held several meetings to introduce the activity to new members and to practice parliamentary procedure.

“There are a lot of logistics involved and we take extended trips,” said JCWA President Kyra Reu.

“There are eight to ten scheduled practices for each conference. Each of the conferences is a four-day affair. There are three conferences,” explained past adviser and English teacher Evan Luzar.

Parents have said they would be willing to help chaperone JCWA trips and practices.  Before finding an advisor, junior Rebecca Kuang summed up the club’s goals for the year:  “Our new goal–find an adviser. Then go ham.”

Luzar was unable to continue advising due to the incredible time commitment it required.

“I have three children now, two of whom are actively engaged in sports or other activities, and this is my time to spend more time with my family,” he said.

Though being an adviser was a lot of work, Luzar found his job to be a very meaningful commitment.

“I got to see so many students grow from quiet shy kids into great leaders. I’ve watched students learn,” he explained.

While being an advisor for any club is inevitably difficult and time consuming, is it also very rewarding.

“To me, the advisers are exactly what they are called,” Houchins said. “They are there to provide guidance and leadership. When [the students] need help with something, our job is to be there.”