Bingham High Club Review

Bingham High Club Review

Here at Bingham we have a lot of amazing clubs. In total, we have forty-one clubs, from sports to academics we have clubs for everyone! 

Mr. Vincent said that clubs “link students together through activities” and that “as students get involved they do better.” We have a club for everyone here at Bingham, all are mostly student run because they are based on student interest and the administration wants to give students the skills they will need for life. Let’s take a look at four of our clubs: AcDec, DECA, Cupcake, and Interact. 

Let’s start off with AcDec. AcDec stands for Academic Decathlon, the AcDec is a team of eight or nine high school students that meet annually to take tests against other teams. The coaches are Mr. Barton and Mrs. Peterson. Katelynn Barton, a member of AcDec, said, “Academic Decathlon is a team that competes in 10 events. Seven of which are tests. The others are an interview, a speech, and an essay. Each year a topic is picked (next year is the Cold War) and you read the seven packets for the seven tests.” She explained that at practices they “review the information or work on our speeches and interview skills. Most of the time we have teammates teach the lessons instead of Mr. Barton or Mrs. Peterson. Occasionally, Mrs. Peterson will go over math because that is one of the categories we are tested on.” 

In case you’ve ever confused AcDec with DECA because of their similar sounding names, Sarah Day, another team member, explains the difference. She said “AcDec is different from DECA because Academic Decathlon is a set of ten caterogories (7 subject tests, an essay, interview and a speech) that we compete in. It is an overall academic competition. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges.”

Mr. Barton also shared what makes AcDec different from DECA, he said that  “DECA is a competition team that focuses on developing marketing and entrepreneurship skills through business challenges and presentations. The Academic Decathlon is more about academic knowledge and testing.” Though different, they are both devoted to helping students academically.

Now let’s talk about DECA, Mrs. Carter the DECA coach shared that DECA is an “international CTSO (Career and Technical Student Organization).  It focuses on helping students develop soft skills, analytical skills, and business skills as they work to solve real world challenges.” DECA is a skilled-focused club. According to captain Carter Boswell they have “about 50 members this year, but any amount of members can make a team. Whether you have 5, 50, or 100 members, you are always a team. In DECA you learn together, laugh together, and even if you are competing individually, you always try your best.” He also says that “anyone can join this club, even if you don’t know anything about business. DECA also teaches important skills for the future, such as soft skills (communication and interaction abilities). It is a great club for anyone that is looking for expansion of their horizons or their interpersonal confidence overall!” This club is very student oriented. The students run it and it’s a club to help students gain skills.  

So what do they do during practices and do they compete? Well Mrs. Carter said that they “compete at the local, regional, state and national levels. There are also several invitationals that we attend depending on student interest. Those are typically at universities or other schools like Utah State and Herriman.” According to Call, practices “are usually competition prep. So we work on case studies and talk about how to impress the judges with things like a smile and a well designed response. We also sit around and talk and work hard to build a team culture.  The great thing about DECA is that anyone can do it and anyone can be really great at it.  It is a fun club full of lots of personality types. And at the end of the day, who doesn’t need a little help building their confidence and ability to think on their feet?”

Now let’s discuss the Cupcake Club. According to the club’s captain Nephi Christensen, cupcake club is a club where the members eat, make, and decorate cupcakes. We practice different techniques and designs sometimes, but it is a pretty laid back club,”  This is a club “for beginning bakers or masters.”  The club has been around for five years. Mrs Woodward shared what her role as the advisor is. She said, “I supply the room and shop for the ingredients and supervise the activities.” According to Nephi, “Overall, it’s a lot of fun. This year we made special key chains for club members, and they could also purchase shirts. We give out cupcakes at the homecoming tailgate and the club rushes.”  

Let’s move on to Interact Club. Interact/Rotary club is a service based club, According to  Clarissa Richins, the president of the Interact club, “The club’s role is to provide service and leadership opportunities to everyone that wants them and to provide a setting to make great connections with other people in the school and community.” She continued, “Our motto is service above self.” Clarissa also said that Interact club is “part of an international service organization. Rotary clubs sponsor Interact clubs and so the South Jordan Rotary club sponsors the Bingham Interact club.” Clarissa said, “It is entirely student run. We typically meet every first and third Wednesday.” She continued, “We have a social once a quarter where we do something fun and spend a little time talking about/coming up with future service activities.”

While these are just a few of our clubs, all of Bingham’s clubs play an important part in helping to create Bingham’s culture and community.