Two Clubs, One Saturday: Reading Two Sets of Club Rules
Mika is a second-year student at Green Hill Junior High. She wants to join two clubs this year. The tennis club practises on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 16:00 to 17:30. The art club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the same times. Both clubs also meet on one Saturday morning a month from 9:00 to 12:00, and this year the two Saturday meetings fall on the same day every month. Mika's last class ends at 15:40. The bus home leaves at 17:45 and 18:30, and the ride takes 25 minutes. Her family eats dinner together at 19:00. The tennis coach says players must practise at least twice a week, including the Saturday meeting, or they cannot enter the summer tournament. The art teacher says a student may miss one Saturday meeting a month if they give a note in advance. Mika also works at a bakery on Sundays from 8:00 to 12:00 and wants to keep that job.
1. Can Mika attend both clubs on weekdays and still catch the bus and eat dinner at home? Show the timing, and name the one risk in this plan.
Read the worked answer
There is no weekday clash. Tennis is Monday, Wednesday and Friday; art is Tuesday and Thursday. Each club ends at 17:30, and the first bus is at 17:45, so she has 15 minutes to reach the stop. The ride takes 25 minutes, so she is home at about 18:10, well before the 19:00 family dinner.
The risk is the 15-minute margin. Club practice often ends with cleaning up or a short talk from the teacher, and the bus will not wait. If she misses the 17:45 bus, the 18:30 bus arrives at 18:55, which is only five minutes before dinner. She should pack her bag before practice and know exactly where the stop is, or ask her family whether a five-minute delay at dinner is acceptable on club days.
2. The Saturday meetings always fall on the same day. If Mika wants to play in the tennis tournament and stay in the art club, what should she do? Explain why the other obvious options fail.
Read the worked answer
She should go to tennis every Saturday and give the art teacher a written note each month.
Why this works: the tennis coach requires at least two practices a week including the Saturday meeting, so missing tennis on Saturday makes her unable to enter the tournament, even if she practises three times on weekdays. The art teacher's rule allows one missed Saturday a month with a note in advance. Attending zero art Saturdays is still within that rule, because the allowed absence is one per month, not one per year.
Why the alternatives fail: alternating months would break the tennis condition in the art months. Skipping art without a note breaks the art rule. Trying to attend half of each meeting is not attendance at either one. The only plan that satisfies both written rules is tennis on Saturday plus a note to art, and she should tell the art teacher her reason early rather than after the meeting.
3. Does the Sunday bakery job create a conflict with the clubs? What should Mika check before she promises the bakery she will stay?
Read the worked answer
There is no direct club conflict: neither club meets on Sunday, and the job ends at 12:00, so it does not touch club times or the 19:00 dinner rule.
The real cost is time and energy. With five weekday practices plus one Saturday morning a month, Sunday afternoon becomes her main block for homework and rest, and a 8:00-12:00 shift removes the morning. She should check two things with the bakery and the school before promising to stay: the date of the summer tennis tournament, because tournaments are often on weekends and may fall on a Sunday, and whether she can change shifts during exam weeks. If the tournament is on a Sunday, she will need that day off, so she should ask now rather than cancel a shift later.