Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Monday, February 08, 2010

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On Club Day, students at Mary Todd Elementary can try new things like playing the guitar.

One Friday a month, students at Mary Todd Elementary close their schoolbooks for an hour or so and pick up a guitar, a bowling ball or maybe a spatula. Known as “Club Day,” it’s a time when kids in grades 3-5 can explore other areas beyond core-content learning.

“It is something you get to choose and something you’re interested in,” said guidance counselor Liz Beaumier, who organizes the program.

Beaumier evaluates the extracurricular expertise of teachers, surveys the kids on potential new clubs and matches them with their top choices. Some clubs are year-round; others meet for one semester, and the students switch groups after winter break.

Eleven-year-old Jacob Young recommended the treasure hunters club, explaining, “You have to find clues and solve puzzles.”

This spring, he picked the bowling club, which gathers at Joyland Bowl just off Paris Pike – a short walk from the school.

“This is kind of like a field trip where we get to go out and have fun,” said Jacob, who has bowled before with his dad. “It teaches you strategy and relieves stress,” he added.

Other offerings have included cheerleading, dance, arts and crafts, environmental club, board games, sign language, sewing, team sports, technology, yearbook, chorus and “talking and dining” – a group that covers etiquette and manners. The cooking club and the step team are always popular, and the drama group performs for primary students.

Members of the guitar club plan to play a couple of songs for the kindergarteners later this month.

“The kids have been plucking out ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb,’ and now we’re getting into chords,” said music teacher Kelly Diamond, who laid the guitar cases in a semicircle and set up the music stands before students arrived.

Fifth-grader Ciara Young, who already was learning the violin, said she’s always wanted to play the guitar, too. “You do have to push down on the strings to get the sound out,” she said during a break.

Diamond said one goal of Club Day is simply to expose students to new experiences.

“We hope to maybe pique their curiosity and give them enough skills that they can go on,” he said. “We’re trying to plant that seed and see what happens.”