This qualitative evaluative study explores the views of two science club advisor/educators of an active 122-member rural high school science club program that is thriving in spite of increasingly busy student schedules, decreasing school budgets, and a demanding standardized curriculum. It is essential to understand the teacher-advisors' objectives and how they run science club, to understand why the organization is popular for students. What do the two teachers do to make this science club vital to the students? Why do the students connect to the program? Four emergent categories were identified during analysis: (a) the teachers established goals and a philosophy concerning science club, (b) the science club was based on activities, (c) the social aspects of science club were nurtured, and (d) there was a connection between the informal (science club) learning and the formal (classroom) learning. The results of this study informs our understanding of how an active, strong science club may be structured and managed, and the study tangentially illustrates the benefits that a well-run science club may provide to the student membership as well as the overall science program at the school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]