Clubs & Organizations

Why Encourage Your Middle Schooler to Join Extracurricular Activities?
Building Connections, Confidence, and a Sense of Belonging at Gulf Shores Middle School

As the parent of a middle schooler, you may sometimes wonder whether extracurricular activities are worth the time and energy. At Gulf Shores Middle School, we strongly believe they are — and the research backs it up!

GSMS offers a wide range of opportunities beyond the classroom, including sports, band, and a variety of clubs and organizations designed to engage students and help them feel connected to their school community.

The Benefits of Extracurricular Involvement:

• Boosts Academic Performance: Studies show that students involved in extracurriculars often do better in school, as these activities help build time management, focus, and responsibility.

• Develops Teamwork & Leadership Skills: Whether it's a team sport or a club project, students learn how to collaborate, lead, and support others.

• Builds Confidence & Social Skills: Extracurriculars give students a safe space to try new things, meet new people, and grow personally.

• Encourages Healthy Passions & Interests: From robotics to sustainability to drama, students can explore what excites them and discover potential lifelong passions.

• Strengthens School Connection: Being involved helps students feel like they’re part of something bigger, which contributes to better attendance and overall school satisfaction.

Encourage your student to try something new this year. With so many options available, there's truly something for everyone at Gulf Shores Middle School!

Social Development
One of the major benefits of participating in extracurricular activities is how it helps middle school-age children develop socially. Engaging in non-academic pursuits helps encourage teamwork, leadership skills, cooperation and social development that students don't get to the same degree from working in the classroom. Middle school is the time for students to start developing these valuable life skills, and participating in extracurricular activities is an excellent way to foster an appreciation for them.

Help Transitioning and Staying in School
The transition from elementary school to middle school can be a stressful one, and one of the ways to mitigate this major change in a child's life is with extracurricular activities. In schools with high drop-out rates that serve at-risk students, for example, extra- curricular activities can have a positive effect on keeping students in school during this tough transition and throughout middle school. Extracurricular activities can give students a purpose for attending school and provide them with an incentive for good academic performance.

Enhance Academic Performance
Although one of the classic arguments against extracurricular activities is that they distract from academic studies, there is an increasing amount of evidence that shows that extracurricular activities actually enhance academic study. Extracurricular activities help develop areas of the brain that may not be fully utilized by strictly academic work, as well as developing important skills that can transfer into academic performance, such as creative problem solving and teamwork. The way children choose to spend their free time can have a huge impact on their academics, and extracurricular activities are a good way to encourage positive use of free time.

Develop Non-Academic Interests
Another major benefit for middle schoolers participating in extracurricular activities is how they can foster a life-long passion. Middle school is a time for students to start discovering their personal interests and passions that they may want to develop later in life. By giving students the opportunity to experiment with various extracurricular activities outside of their academic life, you open the door for a potential future in arts, music, sports or theater that may not have been sparked by strictly academic work.