The Importance of Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities are often perceived as the icing on the cake of the school year. However, these activities often teach more than you realize. Obviously the most visible example of learning is teamwork since most sports and clubs are based on working together or helping others. However, a host of learning opportunities for private schools in Orlando is present, and each promotes student success in the classroom as well as the field or auditorium.

  • Time Management: Most clubs, organizations, and teams meet at a specific time every week or several times a week. Students must use time management and prioritization skills to attend the activity, budget ample time for homework either before or after the meeting, and remember to allow time to gather the necessary supplies for the meeting, whether those supplies are cleats and a uniform for sports or cogs, string, and ramps to build a simple machine for a science club.
  • Exposure to New Things: For example, let’s say that a boy joined the chess team at his school, not because he was particularly skilled at chess, but because he enjoyed the company of the other participants. Since his joining, he has become much more adept at chess, a skill that readily increases critical thinking skills, planning and follow-through, and predicting an opponent’s counter move to his own. He has developed several new acquaintances he would not have chosen in a typical school day, so it has opened the door to new methods of thinking for him. This shows how a team activity opens venues students may not realize they will enjoy.
  • Resume Filler: Belonging to a club or sports team has more advantages than those noted during the activity. After a child has participated for a number of years, the experience becomes a fantastic resume booster. Oftentimes a recent graduate has a sparse resume with little or no job experience. If a prospective employer reads of the clubs and sports organizations a graduate has participated in over time, that employer has a much greater understanding of that student’s abilities to work with others and to maintain a long-standing relationship with organizations. Many students do not recognize this important bit of information; seniors who add their extracurricular activities to their resumes many prove they can be trusted to attend meetings, help others, and donate their time and energy to a project they find stimulating.

Some students find classroom learning under-stimulating for a variety of reasons. Students who are involved in extracurricular activities in private schools in Orlando often carry the information and strategies they have learned from their clubs and teams into the classroom and perform much better simply because the determination they learn on the field or stage carries over to their schoolwork. Lake Forrest Preparatory School offers a number of extracurricular activities ranging from arts and music to cheerleading and basketball. Contact us at (407) 331-5144 for additional information concerning our academic program and extracurricular activities.

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