Clubs / Activities

Indian Hills High School offers more than 35 clubs that are available to all students grades 9 through 12.  A wide array of choices offers students the chance to become involved in after school activities.   There are scholastic based groups, such as Academic Decathlon, Debate Club, Biology and Chemistry Teams.  Also offered are civic groups such as Environmental Club, Interact Club and the Holiday Festival.  Of course, just for fun there’s the Ski Club, Drama Club, the Yearbook, the School Newspaper, Choir and Band.  Plus many more not listed here.

All clubs meet after school from September through May

ACADEMIC DECATHLON TEAM 

Advisor: Michael Pavarati- [email protected]

Open to A, B, and C students. Selection is based on aptitude, achievement, and a practice test. Tryouts are open to everyone and are held in the Fall.  Areas covered: Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, Economics and Literature (plus an essay, speech, and an interview). All are welcome to try out. 

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Advisor: Melissa VanKampen- [email protected] 

Amnesty International is a student off-shoot of the largest organization devoted to recognizing universal human rights and freeing political prisoners and prisoners of conscience around the world.  

ART CLUB

Advisor: John Mungiello- [email protected] 

All students interested in Art may meet weekly in the Art room. Activities are predominantly clay, painting and some metals (small) but options are at the advisor’s discretion. Fundraisers can be a part of the activities. Art videos are shown from time to time.

BAND - MARCHING

Advisor: Jason Clarke- [email protected]
Website: click here

All students in the band program are encouraged to participate. Meets for two hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and during the Fall Season.

BAND - JAZZ ENSEMBLE

Advisor: Jason Clarke- [email protected]

This is a group of 20 members who play the finest in traditional and contemporary jazz band music. Membership is by audition only and meets one evening a week. 

BIOLOGY LEAGUE

Advisor: Jutta Gonzalez- [email protected]

Students taking the course may express interest in joining in the Fall. They meet once a week for practice after school prior to four interschool meets, which are held once a month in January through April. Members also participate once a year in State Science Day in May.

CHEMISTRY LEAGUE

Advisor: 

Students taking the course may express interest in joining in the Fall. They meet once a week for practice after school prior to four interschool meets, which are held once a month from January through April. Members also participate once a year in State Science Day in May. 

RIH Dance Team- [email protected]

The RIH dance team explores the world of dance and performance.  The RIH dance team includes students from both schools, freshman through seniors. We perform at multiple dance festivals throughout the year along with performances at basketball games and wrestling matches. This team allows dancers to expand their dance experience through different genres such as hip hop, lyrical, jazz and modern. Tryouts are not required, but experience of some level of dancing is expected. Bus transportation will be provided for Indian Hills’ students. Team practices take place every Friday, commencing September 14, 2018, in the Ramapo High School dance room with the initial practice and sign up on that day.


DISTRICT DEBATE CLUB

Advisor: Maryann Kopp- [email protected]

The Debate Club is open to all students who are serious about learning the art of debate. The club meets several times a month from September through May. Experienced debaters introduce new members to formal debate. Practice debates are held in the fall to prepare for competitive debates. The club is affiliated with the North Jersey Debate League which hosts interscholastic debate tournaments. There are Junior Varsity or novice competitions for beginners, and daylong Varsity tournaments for experienced debaters. 

DECA

Advisor:  Gale Fanale- [email protected]

DECA is a national association of marketing and business students, which meets once a week. This club is open to all students who have an interest in all types of business – i.e. fashion, food industry, petroleum, marketing and many more. There are regional, state and national competitions held which are not mandatory but are a great experience and extremely fun. 

Indian Hills Theatre Company (IHTC)

Advisor: Kimberly Marino- [email protected]

The purpose of the IHTC organization is to promote interest in drama and theater by involving and entertaining the student body. Two major productions are usually presented, and auditions are held prior to each for acting parts. Students may also express interest at that time for participation in other aspects of theater including acting, properties, makeup, directing, choreography, stage crew, costumes, and other aspects of production. Auditions are held in early September for the November performance and mid-January for the musical performed in May. Parental participation is needed and welcome. 


GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANCE (GSA)


               Advisors:  Edith LaChac- [email protected]
       Margaret Stanczak- [email protected] 

       GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) is a student run club that brings together all students  — LGBTQ and straight students —
       to support each other, provide a safe place to socialize, and create a platform to fight for social justice.
       GSA is a place for straight allies, people questioning their identity, and those interested in learning more.
       We welcome all students who are interested in meeting a great group of people who want to make the world a better, more accepting place.


GREENHOUSE

Advisor: Mike Michels- [email protected]

Interested students meet once a week after school or during study hall to learn greenhouse techniques and help maintain healthy plants in our own greenhouse.

HOLIDAY FESTIVAL

Advisor:  Angela Funk- [email protected]
Assistant: Maria LaBarbiera- [email protected]

The Holiday Festival is a fun way for the students to interact with young children of Paterson. Preparation for the festival begins many months before the actual day of the celebration with the collection of stuffed animals and books from schools and the community. On the day of the festival, over 80 Students help to entertain the Paterson kids by being escorts, decorating cookies, doing arts and crafts, and breaking piñatas. The Holiday Festival is a fun filled day for all students alike.

INSCAPE

Editorial Advisors:       Dianna Peller- [email protected]
                             
Art Advisor:                John Mungiello- [email protected]        

Inscape is the Art and Literary Magazine of Indian Hills High School. Inscape is a compilation of student literary pieces and student artwork. Students may join the staff of the magazine, and/or submit works for publication. Literary and art pieces should be submitted to Mrs. Peller , Mr. Keyser and Ms. Batti via email at [email protected].

INTERACT CLUB

Advisor: Angela Funk- [email protected]

The Interact Club works in planning and participating in social activities that benefit the less fortunate in our community, nation and the world. 

Jewish Culture Club (Volunteer Club)- Jordana Tarlowe
The Jewish Culture Club provides a place where interested people, regardless of their religious beliefs, can join together and learn about Jewish experiences and learning opportunities about the culture and traditions. 

Advisor: Jordana Tarlowe-  [email protected]
Club email- [email protected]


LANGUAGE CLUBS

French Advisor: Natalie Deming- [email protected]
Italian Advisor Graziella Lazzara- [email protected]
Spanish Advisor: Cheri McLaughlin [email protected]

These clubs are open to anyone who is interested in becoming a member. They attempt to combine social and educational activities supplementing the formal classroom work. The clubs try to promote an understanding of the various countries and their cultures. Students are told about them at the beginning of the year in language classrooms.  

MATHEMATICS TEAM

Advisor: Sarah Epstein- [email protected]

The team participates in four different Math Leagues with approximately 30 meets at the county, state and national levels.  Their purpose is to provide stimulation and opportunity for those students who wish to pursue mathematics beyond the regular classroom activities. They participate as individuals and as a group depending on the competition. All grade levels are welcome. 

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY

Advisor: Michelle Patrickio- [email protected]

National Honor Society focuses on the four pillars of character, scholarship, leadership, and service. Students who qualify will be invited to apply during the end of their junior year. In addition to running the school’s free tutoring service, NHS conducts community service activities and fundraising events.

Newspaper (Drumbeats)

Advisor: Dan Ferat- [email protected]

Online Newspaper (Drumbeats Online)

Advisor:  Dan Ferat
Link - Indian Hills Drumbeats

PHYSICS I&II LEAGUE

Advisor: Christopher Cornetto- [email protected]

Members meet after school in study groups to prepare for labs, projects, and competitions. Competition teams represent the school in NJAAPT Physics Olympics and Science League and State Science Day in May.

ENVIRONMENTAL CLUB

Advisor:  Daniel Poalillo - [email protected]

An environmental and animal rights group which promotes its ideals through celebration of Earth Day in April, attending local awareness activities, book recycling, letter writing campaigns to various legislators, and handing out literature to students. Recovery has guest speakers, informative videos, and makes T-shirts. Meets twice a month, Wednesday afternoons, September to June. Everyone is welcome.

ROBOTICS

Advisor:  John Fazio- [email protected] 
              Debbie Greene- [email protected]

Indian Hills High School Robotics Club is a club for students that are interested in building robots to complete simple tasks.  The club uses Lego Mindstorm and Tetrix as their main mechanisms of building our robot. In February, we are given the competition rules for the annual North Jersey Robotics Competition at PCCC, and we begin to have bi-weekly meetings and meet progressively more often leading up to the competition in middle May.  The competition is a great opportunity for students that have interest in engineering and design to be a part of a team and apply their creativity and ingenuity to solving novel problems using robotics.

SADD (STUDENTS AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE DECISIONS)       

Advisor: Jill Fackelman- [email protected]

Upon entering High School, one is introduced to the constant peer pressure and temptation of smoking, drinking, drugs, and driving under the influence. This can be extremely overwhelming to many underclassmen and potentially threaten the success of upper classmen for their senior year. SADD is a club (that meets about once every two weeks) founded on the simple philosophy that young people, empowered to help each other, are the most effective face in prevention. Originally, the mission of SADD was to help students say “No” to drinking and driving. Today, the mission has expanded, helping to prevent destructive decisions, particularly underage drinking, other drug use, impaired driving, teen violence, teen depression and suicide.

SCHOOL STORE

Advisor: Debbie Greene- [email protected]

The School Store provides students interested in business with experience in the use of the cash register and selling school items at a nominal cost. Store is open every lunch period.

SKI CLUB

Advisor: John Fazio

Open to all students, novice to expert, anxious to have more opportunity to ski. Club will plan six after-school trips to Mountain Creek starting the week after New Year's Day.  Members will be able to take advantage of discounted rental fees/lift tickets. Membership may be limited if demand is high.

STUDENT COUNCIL

Advsiors:     Lauren Smalley [email protected]
                  Elizabeth Johnson- [email protected]

The Student Council is the school-wide voice of the students. Its primary function is to represent the students on issues that affect their courses, their activities, and their daily lives at school. A secondary purpose of the Council is to initiate projects of interest to students and to support functions that benefit the larger community. The Council operates by the rules of parliamentary procedure; democratic values form the base of all our activities. The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer are elected in a school-wide vote and work as a team in all capacities. Representatives to the Council are chosen in all English classes. Officer's meetings are held weekly and full council meetings are held monthly during the school year.

TEENS NEED TEENS

Advisor:  Marisa Frissora- [email protected] 

This is a very popular “rap” group for all students to participate in, or just listen to others. All topics of interest, and problem areas are discussed to help support teens. Everyone is always welcome to attend at any time. Meetings are held weekly. Big Brother/Big Sister: Juniors and Seniors are paired with Freshmen in September to help them get through orientation anxiety. Eva’s Kitchen: TNT has a monthly commitment to serve lunch to the homeless on the third Tuesday of every month.

WORLD LANGUAGE HONOR SOCIETY

Advisor:

For more details about WLNHS, please go to the Indian Hills High School World Language Department Page. 
Please email with any questions or concerns regarding WLNHS. 


 

YEARBOOK

Advisors:   Timothy Walkowich- [email protected]

This activity, open to all interested students, culminates in the production of an annual yearbook, which is available for purchase every year. Representing all grade levels, it contains pictures, articles, and a myriad of memories surrounding each school year. Students may elect to work on any or all phases of the yearbook production including photography, editorial, layout, business, art, and computer production. This is a perfect activity for meeting new people and getting involved in an important high school endeavor. Applications for joining the yearbook can be obtained from the advisor in the spring or at the beginning of the school year.