Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016 Key Club went to Six Flags for an event called Fall Rally. Fall Rally is where Key Club groups from California, Nevada, and Hawaii go to Six Flags and compete to win the spirit stick through a series of cheer competitions. A bunch of schools create one division and divisions from each of these states come together for this event. HMSA is a part of Division 19 North (D19 North) along with the California Academy of Math and Science (CAMS), DaVinci Science (DVS), El Segundo High, Gardena High, Hawthorne High, Lawndale High, Leuzinger High, Palisades High, Santa Monica High, and Westchester High. Besides the spirit competition, Fall Rally is mainly a reward for all the key club groups which have raised money for the Pediatric Trauma Program (PTP). In order to attend this year’s Key Club Fall Rally, HMSA set a list for eligibility. However, HMSA had the strictest requirements and a lot of people who helped raise money for PTP were unable to attend because they did not meet the academic requirements.

For HMSA, the eligibility requirements included the following: attendance to the Thursday club meetings, attendance to one Divisional Council Meeting (DCM – a meeting where all the schools within the division meet and discuss events and business happening within each school), attendance to three volunteer events, attendance to the division spirit session (a session to practice cheers), attendance to a school spirit session, no F’s, and a 2.0 GPA. HMSA is the only school within the division to have an academic requirement.

For Hawthorne High, Spirit Coordinator, Ivan M. stated the eligibility requirements are as follows: “10 volunteer hours, one spirit session, one DCM, but no grades were counted.”

For Gardena High, Spirit Coordinator, Jeremiah B. stated the eligibility requirements are as follows: “Only 20 volunteer hours and paid dues, grades are not a requirement, only volunteer hours.”

For CAMS, Key Club’s Lieutenant Governor, Chris S. stated the eligibility requirements are as follows: “there are no specific requirements, the key club school board goes through most hours, meeting attendance, and leadership potential. Grades were not involved.”

All the other schools within our division only cared for the amount of hours served and participation. Fall Rally is a reward for the members doing volunteer work, but it’s understandable why some think it’s fair that part of the work is maintaining good grades. Key Club Advisor, Ms. Mendoza, commented, “Fall Rally is a reward for the students, of course they need to work hard for it and their grades, and meeting these set requirements are part of getting the reward.” HMSA’s mission statement states that HMSA is a “positive academic learning environment” that prepares and develops students to achieve their goals of attending the college and career they aspire to have.

All HMSA clubs and sports have the same academic requirements. HMSA partially covers the cost of its clubs and sports as a reward for the hard work of the students, but also because they see the benefit these groups have in building well-rounded students. It’s not hard to see why the requirements are in place: as an incentive and tool so that every single club member reaches the goals outlined in HMSA’s mission statement. Every club and its requirements, from CIF to Key Club, is meant to build the character and standards of students so they succeed academically first, but also pursue other avenues such as volunteer work.

We do appreciate the support and purpose of the HMSA academic requirements. However, the main work required for the reward of Fall Rally is stated to be raising money for PTP, that was the true work for this event: to raise awareness and funds for the Pediatric Trauma Program. We think Fall Rally, because it is based on volunteer work and somewhat removed from regular school life because of its larger D19 North involvement, unfairly falls under the same academic requirements. 

Fall Rally is a fun event to celebrate all of Key Club’s hard work and their fundraising for PTP. It’s only fair that all members who did the volunteer work get to enjoy this reward for all their hard work. Hopefully for next year’s Fall Rally, we could implement a compromise that allows all the students who did the volunteer work to go.