“All the students here take at least three extracurricular activities,” says Hayden, SWA coordinator for extracurricular activities at middle and high school. “Those include a sports club, an art or musical club, and a club to help them get to know their intended career path.”

One of the students keen about sports is 11th-grader Allison. Every morning, she wakes up as early as 4 a.m. and goes swimming.

Allison is passionate with her hobby. She has joined the swimming club in her school, and she has participated in and won various competitions.

“The swimming routine is not a burden for me. It actually helps me focus on my study because I feel more refreshed after swimming,” Allison says.

SWA also has an ultimate frisbee club, simply known as ultimate. It’s a team sport with a flying disc but has no referee to supervise the game. Ultimate has rules like any other sports, but the players call out game violations and decide the scoring on their own. The self-policing is what makes the game unique.

Besides swimming and ultimate frisbee, SWA also has other sport options, including basketball, football and badminton. It also offers many musical activities – a choir, music bands, and instrumental music groups. There is also a handicraft club.

SWA firmly believes that these extracurricular activities will help the students perform better academically. Physical activities build a fit body, while arts or musical activities can lift the spirit; thus, all of these can boost energy among the students to do their school assignments.

Moreover, the school has long  cultivated a culture of empathy, especially towards impoverished communities. There are student clubs that teach basketball and English lessons to underprivileged children from local schools.

What makes SWA different from other schools is its holistic approach to help students explore their possible career paths. The career-oriented program, called the Best Pathway, enables students to explore their interests and provides valuable mentorship.

Students interested in biotechnology or medical science, for example, can join the BioBuilder Club, which specializes in synthetic biology. The club welcomes junior high school and high school students, who will be encouraged to look into real problems and think of possible solutions with cutting-edge research in bioengineering.

Last year, the club sought to find feasible ways to cure diabetes with genetic engineering, examining how genetically modified bacteria cells can produce human insulin. This year, the members are still brainstorming their upcoming projects. Among their ideas are examining potential bacteria cells that can warn of early signs of heart attack, or finding solutions to pollution from plastic in the ocean.

The yearlong project in BioBuilder Club can show the complexity of the real world and provide an authentic assessment of the students, determining their understanding of the subject. By working on these projects, the students are applying what they’ve learned about biology in the classroom.

“They can have full ownership of their projects. They have the freedom to do what they want to do,” says Hayden, who is the mentor of the BioBuilder Club and gives guidance to the members.

Besides the BioBuilder Club, SWA also has other activities or clubs that aim to help students explore career possibilities. They include robotics, computer coding, journalism, business and Chinese, among others. These clubs allow students to demonstrate their passion in their future college programs, which might boost their chances to enter prestigious universities.

Along with sports and music clubs, the Best Pathway program is a mandatory program that all students must take.

Unlike in the classrooms, extracurricular activities allow students to explore their interest without being driven solely by grades. As they already enjoy the lessons, the students are more likely to add their ideas to the projects. They also learn about creativity, teamwork, and leadership.

“We don’t see these extracurricular activities as conflicting to the academic activities; we see them as essential for the students’ development,” Hayden says.

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