Building Meaningful Relationships Beyond the Classroom: Virtual Clubs for Students

Our students are learning online, but they aren’t isolated. They have opportunities to connect and build relationships through a variety of extracurricular activities, such as virtual clubs for students, summer camps, and in-person field trips—our learners forge friendships while learning something new.

Virtual Clubs for Students

After School Clubs

PA Distance offers a variety of opportunities to extend fun and engaging learning experiences beyond the virtual classroom. The after-school virtual student clubs provide students with a safe space to socialize and learn about topics that interest them outside of their schoolwork and guided curriculum. All after-school clubs take place when the school day is over, after 3:30 pm.

Every academic year, a variety of club opportunities are introduced to our students. We’re proud of the engagement we see in our virtual clubs for elementary, middle, and high school students. Some of our current after-school clubs include:

  • Dungeons & Dragons Club: 9-12th graders

  • Aspiring Author Club: 9-12th graders

  • Theatre Club: 9-12th graders

  • Cooking Club: 9-12th graders

  • Fantasy Sports Club: 9-12th graders

  • Mighty Minorities Club: 9-12th graders

  • Book Club: 9-12th graders

  • Japanese Club: 9-12th graders

  • Yearbook Club: 9-12th graders

  • eSports Team: 8-12th graders

  • Video Game Club: 8-12th graders

  • Pandatonix Club: 7-12th graders

  • Anime & Manga Club: 7-12th graders

  • Magic: the Gathering Club: 7-12th graders

  • Ukulele Club: 6-12th graders

  • Good Vibes Club: 6-12th graders

  • Kitchen Adventures Club: 3-8th graders

  • Young Actors Theater Club: 3-8th graders

  • Chess Club: 3-8th graders

  • Young Games Club: 3-7th graders

  • Choir Club: 3-8th graders

  • Scenes & Stories Club: 3-5th graders

  • American Sign Language Club: K-5th graders

  • Scenes & Stories Club: K-2nd graders

The Yearbook Club provided students with the opportunity to combine their creativity, collaboration skills, and school spirit to build a physical book of memories enjoyed by hundreds of PA Distance families each year. 
Mrs. Katie Heiles, Teacher & Yearbook Club Sponsor
The Dungeons & Dragons Club brings this timeless adventure game to life every week. The students create their own characters, based on stats and lore, and then they travel through a story under the watchful eye of the “dungeon masters.” All high school students are invited to join our next campaign!
Mr. Matthew Gates, Teacher and Dungeons & Dragons Club Co-Sponsor
During Cooking Club, students learn both important cooking techniques and new recipes. Students learn to make a variety of recipes including Chicken Cordon Bleu, Stromboli, Chicken and Dumplings and Quiche from start to finish. Students also learn essential cooking techniques like knife skills, sautéing, making a roux and béchamel, and baking that all levels of home cooks should know. 
Ms. Marisa Petraglia, Teacher & Cooking Club Sponsor
Students in Literacy Magazine Club host school-wide writing contests, participate in writing activities and enjoy collaborating with the Art Exploration Club. Members work together to collect writing pieces and artwork from their peers and revise, edit and publish a magazine that showcases the talents of each student. 
Mrs. Maggie Johnston, Teacher & Literary Magazine Club Sponsor

Student Leadership is a great place for students to grow their leadership skills and connect with the student body. Students really enjoy getting to know each other and planning meaningful and fun events for the school. 

Mrs. Katie Mihoerck , School Counselor & Student Leadership Club Sponsor

Odyssey Fellowship Program

Through a partnership with Grow a Generation, the Odyssey Fellowship Program is designed as an ongoing opportunity for PA Distance student fellows to embark on a year-long journey where they learn new skills, build meaningful projects, and partner with mentors around the globe. 

Fellows meet weekly, every Friday, for 45 minutes while engaging in a variety of experiences and activities that help them move toward becoming STEM Athletes, Digital Storytellers, and World Changers. Our fellows have developed several projects in the last two years, including Cutting Edge in Healthcare, AgTech, Terms of Service, and Life on a Wall.

Odyssey Fellows learn about a variety of topics while in the program, like developing a brand, logo, and website. They learn problem-solving skills, interview experts in the field, organize and plan events (both virtually and in-person), scriptwriting, video production, graphic design, and professional correspondence. 

Three opportunities are available this year to PA Distance students:

Videos

Requirements

The Odyssey Fellowship Program is a unique extracurricular opportunity made available to PA Distance students who have been enrolled for at least one year in grades 3-12 and are in good academic standing. Students who qualify may fill out an application and, if chosen, will be admitted into the program during their entire time at PA Distance.

For more information, read some of our recent blog posts on the PA Distance Odyssey Fellowship Program:

Please feel free to contact us for more information about what makes us unique among cyber schools in PA.