By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – On the morning of April 29, the classrooms at Alabaster’s Thompson Sixth Grade Center didn’t look like they normally do.

In one classroom, students quietly constructed elaborate Lego creations, in another classroom, students competed in a paper football tournament and in the school’s cafeteria, the Alabaster City Schools chef led a cooking class.

“We want the students to be connected with something they are interested in,” TSGC Principal Dr. Daniel Steele said as he visited each club. “This has exceeded my expectations. We were able to get the kids into their top two choices, and the majority got into their top choice.”

April 29 marked the first meeting day for the school’s student clubs, which ran the gamut from outdoor recreation to crafts and yoga.

Over the past few weeks, each TSGC student was given a list of available clubs and was asked to pick their top five choices. Steele said the school decided to start the clubs late in the 2015-2016 school year as a sort of pilot program before likely continuing them into the 2016-2017 school year.

Available clubs were an “All about me” girls-only club, a paper football league, yoga, Legos, soccer, jewelry making, running, fitness and wellness, cooking, art journaling, hiking, sign language, karaoke, checkers, drama, an around-the-world trivia challenge, stepping, animation, cake pop-making, dodgeball and crafts.

Steele said he was surprised how evenly distributed the students’ interests were, as all clubs had good attendance and participation on their first meeting day.

One of the most popular clubs was the cooking club, which was led by ACS chef Scott Lokey.

On the cooking club’s first meeting day, Lokey talked with the 67 kids who signed up for the group, and shared his history in the culinary profession.

“I find it fascinating that kids at this age are interested in cooking,” Lokey said before the meeting. “I think it’s going to be really cool to do this, because it will make them more aware of what they are putting in their mouth.

“It’s essential to know the basics of cooking, not only for themselves, but for their families,” Lokey added.