And staying sane while doing so!

 Connect the students learning to the real world  Provide opportunities for career exploration and leadership skill building  Recognize student achievement in the Career and Tech fields  Allow students to see the relevance of their learning  Get students excited about your program and helps to recruit more students for your program

 If you act enthusiastic, you will be enthusiastic!  Students want to be a part of something fun, entertaining and helpful to them.  Other teachers will want to help you if you “appear” organized. Know what you need them to do and ask for help!

 Set goals  Select officers  Plan your own program of work – Sample  Plan travel & Purchase orders  Look at the state and national websites to familiarize yourself with the theme, registration guidelines, and expectations  Get excited!

 President  Secretary  VP Competition  VP Publicity  VP Fundraising  VP Community Service  Choose your officers rather than voting because you will work with them the most  Hold them accountable & meet monthly  Make them feel appreciated  Try to get them to sign up for your class if possible Officer Application Sample

 Class presentations by you & by your officers to other classes (Do by middle of September)  Set your dues & create a membership form  Publicize – Bulletin boards, announcements, stickers, etc  Create an awesome club t-shirt that others want either by you or the students (Customink.com)  Make it personal – send invitations to former students, provide discounts for recruiting certain # of members Membership Application

 Meet with your club monthly  Host before and/or afterschool meetings/socials  Make it as student led as possible – remember it is their club!  Find Guest Speakers early – parents of students, your own network of friends, partners in education, share with other clubs, colleges (Art Institute, Medix), just call around area businesses

 Ask questions before you choose a guest speaker – they must be able to speak to teens and be interactive & entertaining  Other ideas – brainstorm with your officers ◦ Stress Management ◦ Community Service ◦ Job Interviewing ◦ Dressing for Success & Image ◦ Applying for college ◦ Alumni Day (Get permission!)  Make them as interactive as possible

 Have officers dress professionally and/or wear blazers for competition  Greet door  Provide agenda ◦ Introduction ◦ Icebreaker ◦ Meeting topic ◦ Door prizes ◦ Food  Keep it simple  Take pictures!

 Huge opportunity for students – This is their sport.  Explore and ask questions  Region, State, International levels  Implement a local competition to ensure commitment

 Prepare students early – begin in October incorporating it into your class.  Give your other teachers lesson ideas to help you prepare them for competition  Start small to learn how it works and build from there  Ask students you think would be interested and take it seriously to sign up  Volunteer at the competitions to learn more  Keep materials organized for the next year

 Start early! Even on 1 st day – getting to know the club  Use test questions as warm-up questions in class that go with the unit that you are working on.  Have a day in class to use as a quiz bowl where students work in teams and take sample tests. Winners get a prize.  Use the role plays or other performance based events in your class with the unit that you are working on.  Have former members return to class and discuss with current members what competition is like and how to prepare.  Request donations from local businesses/partners (tax free!)

 Have students pay deposits for EVERYTHING  Provide packets to each competitor ◦ Include a memo outlining all event information including dress code, event location, times of departure, meal information, event times, expectations, consequences of poor behavior, costs, etc) ◦ Include all forms – field trip permission forms, conduct assurance, grade verification sheets, etc)  Keep a field trip notebook to take with you on trips to stay organized

 Give students your phone number and have them stay with a buddy and check in with you periodically  Do room checks  If anything happens, find the state advisor and then your administrators  If you have a field trip notebook, all of the information you need will be in that notebook

 Plan at least 2 projects per year  Brainstorm with your officers for ideas  Work with other clubs together for bigger impact  Provide opportunities to serve, not just donate money or items  Write press releases for the newspaper and submit them to be published.

 Ideas for projects ◦ Each club usually has a fall & spring idea that includes collecting money for a variety of causes including breast cancer, MDA, Diabetes Foundation, etc. ◦ Collect items for care packages to send to armed forces ◦ Homeless Shelter of Douglas County ◦ Sheltering Arms ◦ Veteran’s Day – honor those in your school ◦ Teacher Appreciation ◦ School Beautification projects

 Brainstorm with your officers  Sell candy but have them turn in dollars or checks (no coins!)  Create projects in class where students create a product to sell to others in the school to raise money (with prior permission!)  Ideas – Catalog fundraisers, t-shirts, products at games, homecoming buttons, football/basketball game ideas  Otis Spunkmeyer & Smoothie machines (depending on administration)  Get creative

 If allowed, students love field trips!  Opportunity to see places and encourage membership in your club  Ideas ◦ Local businesses where students can see your subjects in real life ◦ Colleges/Universities ◦ Federal Reserve, CNN Center, World of Coke, Chick- fil-a Corporate Headquarters, any place that you can prove to be co-curricular and valuable to the students

 Be passionate about it because it is what helps students achieve the most & brings them back to your program  Start slow and increase goals each year  Learn from others  Ask questions  Don’t get discouraged, just learn from the issue and move on  Have a notebook to keep organized ◦ Membership ◦ Officers – include your officer info, POW, etc ◦ Field Trip Notebook –check request forms, sub forms, printed s from state advisors, field trip forms, etc to take with you on your trips