On Thursday, February 5th, 2026, clubs at Berkeley High School were able to share their goals, topics and their importance at the Spring Club Fair. The club fair is an opportunity for BHS clubs to showcase their message to an enormous number of students ready to join. The buzz of the fair could be heard from all over the school with the excitement of students deciding to try something new and clubs enthusiasm for them to join.
Students got the chance to browse through over 60 different clubs that BHS offers; clubs range on many different subjects from clubs that center around the arts to ones that focus on STEM, as well as clubs that anchor around social injustices that the student body feel should be changed and discussed in the community. Read on to learn about some of the clubs on-campus that were present at the club fair.
Cinema Club
“We’re calling it a book club, but with movies,” Mira Bradley, a BHS sophomore and Cinema Club co-president, said on Cinema Club being a space where students are able to develop a deeper understanding of movies while also socializing with their peers. Bradley has always loved watching movies with friends, so the Cinema Club allows her to do something fun and relaxing while meeting new people and spending time with friends.
Cambria Frozena, another BHS sophomore and Cinema Club member, shared that the club and those leading it have goals beyond just watching movies. “We’re gonna have bake sales to raise money for local theaters,” Frozena said. Both Bradley and Frozena feel strongly about local and small theaters getting consumed by the big brands like AMC, and would like to help revive them in any way they can. The Cinema Club strives to raise money and awareness for local theaters, such as Rialto Cinema Elmwood.
Dance Club
The Dance Club at BHS is a space for students to learn and get comfortable with dancing without embarrassment. “Basically encourage people to not be embarrassed to dance and try new styles without having the pressure to be in competitions,” Mariana Hidalgo, a BHS junior and Dance Club president, said about the purpose of the club. Hidalgo expressed that the Dance Club is a very supportive community of people who are there to have fun and express themselves through dance/performance arts. Lin Reid, a sophomore at BHS and Dance Club secretary, also shared how the club “allows students who may have been more interested in (dance in) the past to just try all experience levels.”
According to Hidalgo, the goal of the Dance Club is not solely to be the best dancer in the room but to ensure that everyone feels safe to fully immerse themselves in dance. “You need to encourage people to dance together, not just try to be the main dancer,” Hidalgo explained.
BHS Stop Harassing
BHS Stop Harassing is a club focused on educating students at BHS and Berkeley Unified School District middle schoolers on sexual, racial, and gender-based harassment. “We work to end gender, race violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment and rape culture on (BHS) campus,” Rose Levine, a BHS senior and BHS Stop Harassing co-president, said. Some members are not especially well-informed on these topics upon initially joining the club; however, through their membership, they gain deeper understanding that they are then able to share with peers.
Due to the sensitivity and importance of the topics the club covers and educates others on, it is vital that members of the club are able to fully trust each other emotionally. “I love the community. I think everyone is super supportive and everyone is really passionate,” Samira McCarthy, a BHS junior and BHS Stop Harassing social media coordinator, said.
Comparative Ideologies
“I think that we have a lot of very smart people here in Berkeley,” Simon Spinrad, founder of the Berkeley High Comparative Ideologies club, said. “But I think it … could benefit them a lot to expand their knowledge, specifically on political ideologies.” The club aims to provide a space for students to introduce, analyze, and learn about political mindsets that aren’t particularly common at BHS or in Berkeley.
The club gathers biweekly on Thursdays, and meetings are going to be structured around a different political belief system each time. Sprinad hopes to host many guest speakers, such as University of California, Berkeley conservative groups.
A primary goal of the club is to provide education to BHS students, while simultaneously providing a fun club space. According to Spinrad, a meeting at Comparative Ideologies club should provide any student with “really interesting, fun lessons.”
Shiny Beaches
If you walk into room C-213 on a Thursday at lunch, chances are you’ll find the Shiny Beaches club. Shiny Beaches is a beach clean up club that focuses on climate and pollution impacts on the environment. “We hope to educate about the ecosystem and different factors impacting it ... (especially) the aquatic ecosystem,” BHS senior Isabella Ramos, Shiny Beaches founder, said. The club hosts lessons every other week where they talk about the environment over snacks.
“We really try to make an impact in BHS and also just in the greater Berkeley area,” Ramos said. The club does beach clean ups around the bay, with the intention to protect the existing environment. Members of the club put an emphasis on fostering a sense of community within the club, in addition to creating an environmentally conscious mindset at BHS. The Shiny Beaches club strives to have an organized coalition of students motivated to preserve nature in the bay.
Enviro-Tech
Enviro-Tech is a club at BHS that focuses on the technology behind helping the environment. According to BHS freshman Julian Pay and Enviro-Tech co-founder, the mission of the club is to “make legislative change and also help the environment with technology. We are also going on field trips to educate the people around us,” Pay said. One of the field trips that the club is planning to take is to the local composting plant. Their hope is that the members of the club can learn more about the technology behind how composting works.
Lex Harris, a freshman at BHS and Enviro-Tech vice-president, shared how the club is inclusive of any members excited to join. “Everybody can join. There’s no restrictions, and you meet a lot of new people,” Harris said. He and Pay both shared that there are many skills students are able to learn in the Enviro-Tech club. These include, how to be creative, how to be an effective leader, in addition to the knowledge of the environment that members gain.