Gaffney High will start a new era this year when Tribe Time and new clubs are introduced in September. In a recent interview with Mr. Lovelace, the newspaper staff was able to sit down and have a one-on-one discussion about the new clubs and Tribe Time details.

Mr. Lovelace explained that every Monday, all students will be required to go to their scheduled Tribe Time class and go to their given lunch on their schedule. On these Mondays, Tribe Time will be used for learning and developing studying skills and test taking strategies, taking mandated surveys from the district, all voting needs, working on personal growth, success, and development, and many other things of this nature. Sometimes, these Mondays will be used to just catch up on work and homework, but Tribe Time was truly developed and planned out for student success inside and outside the classroom.

On Tuesday through Friday, students will have many options on what to do and where to go. GHS will soon introduce new clubs to the school for all students to be part of and find something they enjoy. Tuesday-Friday is dedicated to student involvement and student success. On Tuesday through Friday, students can attend a club of their choice that is available on select days, go to a teachers classroom to work on projects, homework, or receive any other help needed, or go to the library. Tutorials will also be available and open for students to attend. In the case of tutorials, if a student has below a 60 in a class, they will be assigned a day and will be required to go to tutorials in order to get help to bring the grade up. These tutorials are optional to those who have above a 60, but for those below, these tutorials are mandatory.

On Tuesday, September 10th, GHS will host a club fair where students will be able to walk around and explore the different clubs and opportunities, and sign up for as many as they can fit into their schedule. Some clubs will be multiple days a week, some will be biweekly, and some will even possibly be monthly. The clubs will alternate so students are able to be part of multiple clubs, all while still having time to study and get help if needed or wanted.
One thing that is required is that ALL students must be somewhere, either a classroom, club, library, or etc., when the tardy bell rings. Mr. Lovelace stated that once you go to a classroom, you are required to stay there until the class ends. There will be no switching from class to class freely during these Tuesday through Friday times.

If a student does not find a club they are interested in, they can request to start a new club. If enough students get together with a club idea and submit it, Mr. Lovelace will do his best to try and find a teacher to host the club and be able to incorporate it into the schedule.

Mr. Lovelace also addressed the “opportunity gap” that is often present in schools, where some students have more of an opportunity to be active in these clubs because they have transportation to and from afterschool activities, while some students may not. These students who do not have an available ride are often not able to be as active as they may wish, simply because the opportunity is not open to them with their circumstances and situations. Having a variety of clubs during school hours opens up new opportunities and newfound success to all students.

These new clubs and this new schedule will not be kicked off immediately, but over the next few weeks or so. Some practice runs will kick off Tribe Time and we will all take it step by step in order for this new era to truly be successful at GHS. Being a Gaffney High School student is about more than just showing up to school to learn subjects, but instead, it is about learning new life skills, stepping out of comfort zones, and most importantly, having plenty of opportunities for success easily accessible to all students.