Alexander Metz, a junior at Freehold Township High School, was chosen as a March 2021 Club Student of the Month! He is appreciated for his initiative and dedication, and has worked so hard the past three years of high school. As said by his advisor, Mrs. Rowholt, Alexander Metz has made many contributions as a member of DECA this year, and has taken charge to organize club meetings, agendas, and activities. All the while showing his leadership through DECA club, Alex has also reopened the opportunity for FTHS students to join the Chess Club — that’s right, he re-established a club here at our school! To read more about Alex’s greatest accomplishments as a role model and student, check out our interview below: 

Grace Lorenzo: Being such an involved member of the DECA club, between arranging meetings and establishing agendas as well as activities for the rest of the members, did you have some kind of inspiration to take on this responsibility and to prove yourself as a role model to the other students? 

Alexander Metz: I knew that this was a difficult time for everyone and wanted to come up with fun, informative activities to educate the club members about the many aspects of business.

GL: As a freshman, I’ve heard that DECA is a really popular club at FTHS! What would you say is your favorite aspect of this club? 

AM: I love how the competitions students participate in encouraging public speaking and improvisation because these are skills that I feel are very applicable to real life.

GL: While planning the agendas and activities for DECA, were there any arrangements you organized that you got really excited about and got lots of positive feedback for? If so, tell me about one of those moments!

AM: My favorite meeting was definitely when I got Jack McNaboe, the mayor of Manalapan, to speak to our club. He told us all about running a town and his previous career opportunities. Overall, it was a very fun experience and he was very nice!

GL: Along with your dedication to DECA, your great initiative led you to re-establish the FTHS Chess Club! I think that’s really impressive. What made you think about reopening a school club, and what interested you about building up the Chess Club again? 

AM: I wanted to help students interact with each other in a virtual environment. I figured that all I needed was an advisor to help me run the club and an online platform to facilitate games. Since everyone is going through such a hard time, I wanted to give people a way to play a fun game in a pressure-free environment.

GL: Throughout the process of reestablishing the FTHS Chess Club, were there any aspects of taking charge of this project that you found particularly challenging? If so, what was the challenge, and how did you overcome it? 

AM: I would say my biggest challenge was finding an advisor. Especially in these circumstances, a lot of my current and former teachers had too many commitments to be a club advisor.

GL: How were you able to draw in an audience of students to be aware of the reopening of the Chess Club? Were there any really great strategies you used to lead you to success?

AM: I drew in an audience by telling the club advisor, Mr. Hinds, to mention the club in the morning announcements for all of the grades, which seemed to have worked nicely.

GL: I am sure that, with the pandemic, it has been a lot tougher to interact with the other members of the Chess Club physically. Is there anything you guys have been doing to join together virtually or to remain socially distanced during these unprecedented times? 

AM: Since clubs are still virtual at FTHS, I needed to find a way to play chess virtually even though I have never done so before. I asked one of my friends who plays chess and he told me about this great website: chess.com. At our meetings, I use this website to facilitate games between club members and show chess puzzles at the beginning of the meetings to get the club members’ minds thinking.

GL: Just as a final and fun question, if you could re-establish another school club or create a new school club of your own, what would it be and why? 

AM: I would create a Young Democrats club and a Young Republicans club at FTHS. I have been an active member of JSA for two years, which is a debate club at FTHS. However, I wish there was a club for people to discuss and debate political issues with people who think similarly to them.