- November 25, 2024
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It’s 2:30 on a Monday afternoon, which means West Orange High School government teacher Michael Callahan is doing one of two things — supervising the TikTok Club or managing the Politics Club.
On this particular day, TikTokers are gathering in Room 566. Some days there are 20 to 30 students; this week there are four.
Callahan said there are multiple reasons why the number is low this week. Some students had to go to their after-school job. There were a few who left campus after getting disappointing news from their college of choice.
The TikTok Club is new to the school this year and was started by two students, Kate Sandoval, who is club president, and Jayleen Zayas, who no longer is at West Orange.
During the hour, three video “sounds” are chosen, and members watch 15-second videos of mostly teens dancing, singing or lip-syncing on the TikTok social media app. They pick one and then create their own versions of the video — adding filters, text, sounds and music.
“Right now, they are rehearsing their TikTok and then they’ll recreate their TikTok in the hall or the courtyard or wherever they want,” Callahan said about halfway through the meeting.
The students then share them with the others, hoping to be voted the best.
It’s their shot at fame —15 seconds at a time — and it can happen more than once. Challenges are popular, and having your video go viral is the goal.
Callahan said he plays a minor role in the club; he’s there because an adult must be present.
“It’s really a student-led club,” he said. “After-school activities are meant to be fun.”
And he has one rule: He doesn’t want to appear in any of the videos.
Several WOHS teachers have incorporated TikTok into their lesson plans, using the 15-second clips to review facts, he said.
Kate said the club has gained popularity “because it has never been done before, and students already incorporate TikTok into their daily lives.”
Kate and Darcy Friday have been creating short videos for several years, starting with the Musical.ly app, then Vine and now TikTok.
Other members, such as Amanda DiCastro and Morgan Townsend, joined the club to hang out with their friends and have some fun.
“I think it is extremely important to allow students to create clubs that are original because it gives us a creative outlet and meetings relieve stress that the school day brings,” Kate said.
Besides participating in their own club competitions, the members have spoken to famous TikTokers in the community, including a homeschooled student who goes by @itsbrandonmax, who heard about the club and asked to visit during a meeting.
At the Feb. 3 meeting, there was another guest — Kate’s brother, Carlos, who doesn’t typically participate but hopped up on this particular afternoon and took direction from the four girls. After practicing their choreographed dance, they took their phone into the hallway and recorded several versions until they had one they liked.
Callahan sits at his desk in the corner of the room, casually observing. He said he’s amazed at how many different students are interested in the club. Teens who normally would not socialize in the same settings are coming together, learning about other personalities and having fun.
“They’re really crossing barriers,” Callahan said.
Orange County Public Schools doesn’t track after-school clubs, as they are coordinated individually by the school, said Sara Au, OCPS media relations. There could be other TikTok clubs, she said, but the one at West Orange is the most established.
“In Orange County Public Schools, after-school clubs are student-driven, meaning any group of students can start any type of club as long as they have a staff member to sponsor it,” Au said. “Clubs in our 199 schools range from robotics to fishing, math to poetry, FFA to coding and Harry Potter to TikTok, among many others. We want to engage students in learning in every way possible.
“The West Orange High TikTok Club is a great way to do that and to provide some positive guidance to students’ use of social media,” Au said.
