Carly Davis

EDAD 633
Case Study #3
Case 31: The Hip Club aint Happening

Step 1
Summarize the case
Olympus High School is a state-of-the-art school in the upscale community of
Lake Olympus. The school enrolls students in the boundaries of the district and
buses students in from surrounding districts. The community wants to stop
busing students in because there are a few issues the school has encountered
and the community feels it is the fault of those students not in the district
boundaries. The high school encourages students to take part in clubs and
activities at the school. Some clubs are hard to get started but that did not stop
Sheila Mentor from starting a Hip Dance Club. For a club to get started they must
have a teacher sponsor and other students who are interested in participating.
Sheila got Ms. Johnson, a sex education teacher, to be the sponsor and 10 of her
friends to join the group. Ms. Johnson allowed the girls to meet in her room
during school hours, but did not attend most of the meetings herself. Sheila and
the other girls made a secret initiation act that new members had to do before
they could join. The initiation included doing a sexual act with a football player.
Sheilas sister wanted to join the group so she asked a football player to join in
on the initiation. The player told his parents and the father called in to the
principals office to get it taken care of. The principal called Sheilas parents and
told her she was expelled from the school and needed to attend the high school
she was in the district for. The parents agreed at first but then changed their
minds the next morning, bringing a reporter to the school to fight the decision of
the principal.

Step 2
Identify the problem in a single sentence
In this case, the problem is the lack of guidelines the sponsors are given about
attending the club meetings.

Step 3
Select specific information from the case and categorize it according to
people, place, or program.
People
1. The members of the community are upscale and upper class and want to
stop busing the students in to the district.
2. The supportive adults in the community encourage students involvement
in activities and clubs at the high school.
3. Students are bussed in from surrounding districts to fill enrollment at the
high school.

4. 95% of the students are members of student clubs.

5. Sheila Mentor is a junior at the high school. She starts the Hip Dance Club
and participates in the making of the initiation for her club.
6. Ms. Johnson is the sex education teacher at Olympus High School and
becomes the sponsor of the Hip Dance Club. She does not attend many of
the club meetings.
7. 10 of Sheilas friends join the club and help with the making of the initiation
process.
8. Sheilas sister wants to join the group and tries to participate in the
initiation process.
9. Football players are the targets of the initiation process and are asked to
do sexual acts with the girls who want to join.
10. Sheilas parents are concerned about her daughters performing such acts
but then blame the school for them being able to do such acts.
11. The football players dad is a concerned parent who wants the principal to
take care of the situation and not make a big deal out of it.
12. The reporter comes to the school with Sheilas parents to ask questions
about expelling Sheila.
Place
1. Olympus High School is located in the upscale town of Lake Olypus. The
school is considered to be a state-of-the-art school and is fairly new.
Enrollment at the school includes students in and out of the school district
boundaries.
2. Lake Olympus consists of 3 elementary schools and Olympus High
School.
3. Ms. Johnsons room is the meeting place for the Hip Dance Club, where
she does not attend regularly.
Program
1. Olympus High School has many student clubs that the students can start
with a staff member as their sponsor. No guidelines are in place for the
sponsor to attend all of the meetings.
2. 95% of the students are members of a club at the school, according to the
school.

Step 4
Review and prioritize the data: Identify the category that contains the most
significant information leading to the problem
1. Olympus High School has many student clubs that the students can start
with a staff member as their sponsor. No guidelines are in place for the
sponsor to attend all of the meetings.
2. Ms. Johnsons room is the meeting place for the Hip Dance Club, where
she does not attend regularly.

3. Ms. Johnson is the sex education teacher at Olympus High School and
becomes the sponsor of the Hip Dance Club. She does not attend many of
the club meetings.
4. The members of the community are upscale and upper class and want to
stop busing the students in to the district.
In this case, the Program category is the most significant aspect leading to
the problem. There are no guidelines for the sponsors to attend the meetings.
They are most likely just encouraged to be there but are responsible for what
happens during these meetings. It is under their discretion if they need to be
there or not. Ms. Johnson trusted the girls to behave during their club meetings
but was shown to be wrong when they were not doing what they should be doing.

Step 5
Refer to the data in step 4 to solve the problem presented in the case and
to respond to the case study questions
1. As the principal, my first step would be to call Ms. Johnson in and ask her
if she knew about the initiation and why she was not attending the
meetings. Once I have collected information from Ms. Johnson I would
then call Sheila into my office since she is the clubs founder and get her
side of the story. Then I would have Sheilas sister come in and get her
story, then the other girls from the club one by one, then the football
player. I would get all of the sides of the story to ensure I have a full
understanding of what actually happened in order to make my final
decision in the matter. Even though the football players dad asked me to
take care of it right away I would still need to get everyones story. I would
try to do this in an timely manner as to get it taken care of right away.
2. Ms. Johnson will by my first person to talk to. I want to make sure she
understands the situation at hand and let her know what has been going
on in her classroom without her knowing. She needs to know that for
further clubs she might want to sponsor, it is highly recommended to
attend all of the meetings since you are in charge of the group and what
happens during those meetings.
3. I will ensure that we make guidelines for the clubs that give rules for the
sponsor and club members. The sponsor needs to be in attendance of all
meetings so ensure no foul play is going on The club cannot meet unless
the sponsor is present. If they want to meet when the sponsor is not
available then they must do it off school grounds and on their own time,
not during the school hours. I will set up a disciplinary action plan for the
clubs when situation arise that are not appropriate. After one instance of
getting in trouble, not following school rules and handbook, then they will
be put on probation. During this period the students are not allowed to
meet for a period of time. After the second offence, the club is then shut
down and cannot meet anymore. The club will be removed from the club
list.

4. Sheilas sister will be suspended for going against the guidelines in place
in the student handbook. She will also be required to talk with the
counselor about her actions. She is trying to fit in and be in the cool
group. She needs a little insight on what can happen if she continues to do
what others tell her to do I a sexual manner.
5. When the reporter shows up at the school with Sheilas parents I will tell
them that we are looking into the situation and dont have any comments
at the moment as to who is responsible for the situation. If the report
continues to ask questions I will just tell them no comment and that they
can come back once the issue has been resolved and all parties have
been questioned.
6. When the father of the football player calls me I will ensure him we are
getting to the bottom of the situation as quickly as we can but cannot
make any assumptions at the moment. I want to get all sides of the story
before making my final decision.
7. As soon as the reporter comes in to ask questions is when I call over to
the district office and let them know we might have a bigger issue that I
had anticipated. I will ensure them that I am taking care of the issue within
the school as quickly as I can and I will keep them in the loop when I get
any more information and make my decision about suspensions and who
is to blame. The district office should hear the situation from me before the
media lets them know, but I dont want them to think I cant take care of it
from the start. A principal should be able to handle discipline issues on his
or her own.
8. Once the community gets word of the incident I will report out saying we
are working on resolving the issue. I will give them the new guidelines for
sponsors and students involved in the clubs. Giving them these new
guidelines will ensure them that I am taking care of what is happening and
helping to prevent it from happening again.
9. I will most definitely approach the other members of the Hip Dance Club. I
will be questioning them all to find out who was all involved in the making
of the initiation into the group. I will also talk to them about meeting with a
counselor to talk about what they might have been asked to do to be in the
group. This is not just a small issue and these girls need to understand
that. This will help prevent any of them from trying to do the same this in
another group.
10. I dont agree with removing Sheila. I do believe this is a big issue and that
she is in the wrong for making this initiation but I dont think she needs to
be removed from the school. I think we need to follow protocol and the
handbook and have her suspended for the amount of time already set in
stone. I dont think this incident requires her to be expelled. If I keep her at
the school but suspend her I think the community will still want her to be
removed but legally we cannot do that. I think if she was expelled the
community will be more at ease and will still encourage clubs. I think this
incident detoured some community members to not support the clubs,

whether or not she is removed from the school. Members of the

community are going to be upset no matter which choice I make.
Hanson, K. L. (2009). Case 31: The hip club aint happening. A Casebook for
school leaders (pg. 120-122). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education,
Inc.