By Julia Bae

Clubs are an integral part of Winsor life, with the majority of clubs meeting during lunch each cycle. However, since the current schedule allows a late start every Wednesday, the Wednesday lunch period was shortened to thirty minutes instead of the regular forty. As a result, some students feel that this amount of time is insufficient for a club meeting, while others don’t mind the shortened period.

The primary difficulty of having clubs during lunch is that students need time to get food at the beginning of lunch, as well as having time before lunch ends to clean up the room, clear their plates, and get to their next classes; this challenge is only exacerbated on Wednesdays. The cafeteria lines can also become quite lengthy, especially on Wednesdays. Therefore, the actual time that clubs are able to devote to discussions and activities becomes somewhat limited, meaning the time on Wednesdays is reduced even further.

However, despite the decrease in time, many students still appreciate going to clubs on Wednesdays, and club heads have also found ways to navigate around the difficulties. Giulia Vitolo ‘25, who attends Amnesty and Venture Capital Club, shared her thoughts, saying, “When I have a club on Wednesday, it does sometimes feel like thirty minutes isn’t enough time. However, we’re still able to meet and get good work done, so I think overall the pros outweigh the cons.” Additionally, with the six-day rotating schedule, the weekdays on which clubs meet frequently changes,  so Wednesday meetings aren’t too common for each club. Furthermore, club heads are aware of the shortened time on Wednesdays, thus allowing them to adjust their agenda if needed.

It is also important to note that clubs are impacted differently depending on their commitment level. For instance, Nora Furlong ‘25, co-head of Wellness Club, commented, “My co-head and I typically plan Wednesday meetings with a lighter agenda because we have less time. But because Wellness Club is often just a chill, safe space for everyone to check in, the time limit is not really problematic.” On the other end of the scale, some of the highest commitment clubs, including Robotics, Debate, and Mock Trial, hold weekly meetings outside of school; therefore, they aren’t affected by Wednesday lunches and have ample time to complete their work.

So, while the Wednesday lunch period may feel inadequate for a club meeting, the rotating schedule, the ability to still meet, and the club heads planning in advance makes Wednesday lunches a still effective meeting time for clubs.