Ayush Shroff sits at a makeshift desk-turned-witness stand at the front of the room. His shoulders are back, his posture pronounced—purposefully, to display his witness’s persona. Aarov Minocha (Ayush’s lawyer) paces as he interrogates his witness. Towards the back, other pairs act: some edit their statements to strengthen their language, others practice their parts. Here, the Mock Trial team prepares for the New York State Bar Association Mock Trial Competition. All over the school, students engage similarly, preparing to compete or learn in their respective clubs.
Clubs appeal to a diverse array of interests and experiences: to compete in competitions, serve the community, connect with others who share a passion, or learn more about a specific subject. This is a guide to some of the clubs and competitions offered at South High, including some new clubs.
The Future Founders Club, established by junior Abby Badalov, is a new addition for students interested in business who want an alternative or addition to DECA. At monthly meetings, students listen to guest speakers, most of whom are experts in business and entrepreneurship. Meetings end with an interactive activity that encourages students to implement skills they have learned.
Juniors Emma Ding and Alvin Jiang recently formed the Finance and Economics Club. They noted the gap in students’ knowledge and intend to teach members about personal finance, investing, and economic systems. They also hope to participate in finance competitions and eventually join the Young Investors Society and Youth Economics Initiative.
For those interested in publishing, South High offers a variety of publications, including the school newspaper, The Southerner; our school’s art and literary magazine, Exit 33; and the Yearbook. Students may submit poetry, narrative stories, and varying mediums of art to Exit 33. The Southerner offers mentorships to aid students in writing articles, taking photographs, and making cartoons and media specific to the paper.
Students often see clubs as an opportunity to compete in both state-wide and nationwide competitions. These competition-focused clubs offer guidance and support, helping students master the etiquette, strategy, and knowledge necessary to excel. The following competition clubs are placed in order of membership and popularity:
**Note that these clubs will have concluded their tryouts for the 2024-2025 academic year already.
Astronomy Club
Google Classroom Code: foygzf4
Competitions: Earth Science Olympiad, National Astronomy Competition
The astronomy club helps prepare students to take the National Open Exam—a test of general Earth science knowledge—by studying previous tests and materials. Students set up study groups for different sections and regularly share new information. Participants who achieve an outstanding score will be invited to the USESO Training Camp. After attending, they may be selected for the US team at the International Earth Science Olympiad.
This year the Astronomy Club also plans to prepare for the National Astronomy Olympiad.
Physics Club
Google Classroom Code: fzctmmc
Competitions: F=MA/ USAPHO, PhysicsBowl, Physics Brawl Online
Every week, the club prepares by reviewing practice questions (typically from test archives) and introducing new physics knowledge. Each competition differs slightly: The USAPHO asks 25 questions in 75 minutes; the PhysicsBowl gives a 40-question, 45-minute MCQ test; the Physics Brawl Online asks a team of 5 students to solve 7 problems in a 3-hour stretch.
The History Club
Google Classroom Code: kvqwta6
Competitions: National History Day
The National History Day Competition is a research-focused project. Students are asked to thoroughly analyze an historical event of their choosing based on a theme. (This year’s is Rights and Responsibilities.) Participants then present their findings through documentaries, exhibits, papers, websites, or performances. The club introduces Noodletools and reviews each project to ensure students address all components and establish historical importance.
The Programming Club
Google Classroom Code: kgc43mu
Competitions: Great Neck South Computing Olympiad
The school holds the Olympiad annually and tests students’ abilities to answer complex questions over the course of a week. The club hosts weekly lectures for strategies and teaches about different data structures and algorithms to prepare.
Envirothon
Google Classroom Code: hx5uhq7
Competitions: Envirothon
Envirothon encourages problem-solving and team building regarding aquatic ecology, forestry, soil and land use, wildlife, and current environmental issues. Students form study groups to study specific topics, often researching on their own, and then compiling information together.
Pre-med
Google Classroom Code: iawfuf5
Competitions: HOSA, Health Science
Students prepare in study groups, testing their knowledge of medicine and theory.
The Academic Team
Google Classroom Code: sufyqhx
Competitions: Quiz Bowl
Quiz Bowl tests knowledge in math, science, history (both US & world), literature, and “trash” (pop culture and sports). The club simulates the bowl using buzzers and prior test questions. They also encourage exploring Wikipedia rabbit holes and have held competitions to test the speed and retention of that knowledge.
Mock Trial
Google Classroom Code: jkua75h
Competitions: New York State Bar Association Mock Trial Competition, Wheatley Competition, Moot Court Competition
Students are taught to act as lawyers or witnesses, learning affidavits, court manners, and previous precedent to defend or prosecute. They run practice trials to simulate the proceedings in court and workshop opening statements. Different competitions run throughout the year with varying focuses.
The Moot Court Competition focuses on using previous court cases to establish precedence for students’ stances.
Debate Club
Google Classroom Code: zoneorm
Competitions: Long Island Forensics Association, Various University Invitationals
Students craft their arguments, researching evidence and reasoning for their stance. They also research the opposing viewpoint to build rebuttals. The club helps prepare students for the format of the competitions and how to act.
National Science Bowl
Google Classroom Code: kzkuy4p
Competitions: National Science Bowl
At the beginning of the year, students go through tryouts (a fake bowl of past science questions) to determine the team. Then, students prepare by simulating the bowl, practicing buzzing and answering science questions quickly.
Math Team
Google Classroom Code: z2fkuit
Competitions: ~20 competitions listed in their Google Classroom including AIME, NCIML
As the math team competes in many competitions during their meetings, the club emphasizes self-studying. They provide many resources on the Google Classroom divided by topic and competition. During regular meetings, they will review archived problems and harder questions students struggle with.
Science Olympiad
Google Classroom Code: js3ie6
Competitions: Science Olympiad
Students compete at the Division C level in 23 annually changing team events. The events range in testing students’ genetics, earth science, chemistry, anatomy, physics, geology, mechanical engineering, and technology knowledge and capabilities. Scioly holds tryouts at the beginning of the year to determine their three teams. They then workshop designs and research or prepare cheat sheets to compete.
The Government Club
Google Classroom Code: guur2zv
Competitions: Model Congress, College Conferences
Students hold weekly meetings to debate bills written by club members—imitating Congress—and learn important debating skills and parliamentary procedures. They then attend college-hosted Model Congress sessions to pass their bills, this time competing against other schools.
Robotics
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/JBQhxpdy7q
Competitions: FIRST Robotics Competition
The Robotics club designs and builds robots to carry out different, complex tasks. The club divides itself to handle each component of the competition (such as programming apps and robot movement). From January to May, they compete in regional competitions before moving on to the global level.
DECA
Google Classroom Code: jyudy6n
Competitions: DECA
DECA is a business club that allows students to explore the business world and compete. There are three main types of events: roleplays, manuals, or the Virtual Business Challenge. The GNS DECA board helps its members prepare through weekly practice sessions and has achieved great success in the past few years, with many students qualifying for the International Career Development Conference (ICDC).
