The lunch bell rang on Sept. 18, finally releasing hundreds of restless students from their classes. As usual, they scurried to the quad steps with the intent of reaching the cafeteria first and avoiding the long lunch lines. However, they were met by an enormous mob of classmates surrounding the center of the quad, surveying colorful posters bearing the names of dozens of clubs.

Saratoga High hosted its annual Club Day on Sept. 18. Although upperclassmen had already been introduced to a variety of clubs during their high school experience, freshmen who had never experienced this before, were overwhelmed by the many clubs that their new school had to offer.

“Our school has a lot of clubs, and a lot of them are not very well known,” said assistant principal Karen Hyde. “Some of the smaller clubs are able to come out and introduce their ideas to the student body on Club Day.”

Club Day is organized every year by the club commission, whose head commissioner is junior Cindy Chang. Chang began working with Hyde two weeks before Club Day to organize details, such as table arrangements and club sign-ups.

“We want to encourage everyone to be aware of the many clubs we have and be able to share their interests,” said Chang.

In previous years, clubs chose tables in the quad based on a first-come, first-serve system. However, because the ASB is trying to cut down on inactive clubs, this year the tables were assigned in an effort to avoid unofficial clubs from promoting themselves.

More than 40 clubs participated on Club Day, and many of the them brought food and other attractions to capture students’ attention. With the loud clashes of music, decorated shirts and some bright green hair sticking out of the crowd, this event was a hard one to miss.

“The students were good about respecting other clubs and cleaning up the tables and chairs afterwards,” said Chang. “Overall, Club Day was a success and raised awareness of the variety of clubs that our school offers.”