Raising Funds For The Club

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Congratulations on successfully creating and planning a school club. Now you must do the next step which is to make sure that you can keep the gears of this machine running. The same thing that keeps this machine running is the same thing that keeps the world moving around. There are plenty of ways that you can earn money, but they are so numerous that we are going to categorize into three groups. The most important thing about all three is that you make sure that the personality of yourself, as the leader, and the club shine through. While we encourage you to do anything to earn money, useless it is illegal or degrading to your organization name, it is all a waste of time if your actions promote that of another club. Unfortunately, this makes things difficult, but you would not have gotten your position if you were uncreative.

Through The School

This is the one that most clubs are going to do because it is the easiest. Now if your club is famous then it should be easy to make your members pay a monthly fee. This should take into consideration the numbers of members that you have. The best way that we can suggest that you gauge this is that you don’t have a fee if you have less than twenty members. For fifty members, we suspect that having a five-dollar fee is normal. Anything that is more than ninety then you can only ask for ten dollars and above. Now you will need to have a purpose for this money because it is not like everyone just has these funds to give so such rewards as trips or even some member shirts.

Another thing that you can do is sell your goods to not only spread the buzz about your club but even get some easy money on the side. If you want to push the envelope for money that you can get is to make it a competition. It must be something worthwhile that will most likely have to get order months in advance. Anything that can get the faces of your members out there in the school will only lead to more talk and exposure, so it is a win-win for everyone that is involved.

Through Your Service

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Now while we said that you should try to incorporate your club through everything that you do, there are services that only you can offer. Let us say that you are part of the archery club. You might think that there is nothing that your club can provide anyone but how about archery lessons? Sure, there are very few people who would want this, but those who do will provide you with a steady stream of money for a few months. Using this example, this is not something that you should just offer out of the blue. Think about what you can teach someone with each lesson and make it as organized as possible. You want there to be a beginning and a definite end. It might help if you can come up with some ranking system such as a feathered cap, that runs through the school apparently so that students can feel some pride once they finish up your lessons.

The debate club is another famous club that is hard to gain some money for. It is not like everyone is jumping to learn how to discuss better, but this might surprise you. One way to advertise this service is to say that you can teach someone how to win at any argument through the teaching of fallacies and deconstructing arguments. The same things that were mention above can easily be applied here, but you might want to lower the price for this one by several degrees. Everyone wants to learn how to argue better, but not everyone has the money to pay for this. In exchange for this low fee, you will be able to reach a wider range of students. Once you get to the point where you have too many for the members of your club to handle then drastically increase the price to turn people away.

Through Other Means

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Finally, you can put your own money into the club treasury which should happen from time to time. If your club is not too pressed for money, then donations is another traditional route that you can go. The last-ditch effort is a favorite school club is to ask the school itself for a bit of money, but you better be prepared to explain yourself. It is not like the school just has buckets of money to give to a club that does not necessarily need it to run. If you want to push the limits of, however, you are going to need money to do just that.

Public Relations And You

 

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If there is one thing that every boss knows then, that their job is not easy. You are going to face difficulties left and right even outside of the school. Three of these problems are dealing with public relations and are the press, speeches, and community. A club that wants to last past the years of their first leader has to deal with these three in some way or another. We will not only just talk about these issues but the ways that you can properly deal with them along with a few extra touches to make your show excel. As John T. Chirban Ph.D., Th.D. said, “How you act today will have a huge impact on who your child becomes as an adult. A confident stance, conscious of the example you are setting, is the best approach for guiding your children toward healthy adulthood.”

You VS The Press

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Now the press can be one of two things, the school or papers. If your school has a paper, then you are bound to run into this as a problem, but the moment that you get into the papers then this is one of the extremes. One way or another you did something that got you a lot of attention in your town, but first, let us discuss the school paper. Clubs and the school news should always be hand in hand because outside of fliers this is going to be the only way that you can relay information to the public. This can either be for ads or announcements. The exposure, in general, is good but what if you get some bad exposure than just weather the storm. This is a different issue when the papers give you some bad exposure.

Sadly there is little that you can do if you manage to get yourself some bad exposure in the news. One of the first things that you should do is talk to the principal of the school to try your best to explain what happened. Most likely as a leader, you will keep your nose clean but when you get some good exposure in the news then revel in it. Frame it somewhere in the club and make sure that you get this juicy tidbit to the school paper for a little more good exposure.

You VS Speeches

This is a rare opportunity, but at some point,  the school might ask you to speak publically about your club. This should take priority number one because if you nail this, then you will see a lot of people that are interested in your organization. The last thing that you want to do is get known as the boring or lame club because you did not prepare for this. The following tips can easily be applied to other types of speeches as well:

*Practice your speech in the mirror and try to learn your speech cover to cover.

*Take your time to know your audience so if it is front of teachers then try to be as informative as possible.

*Let your personality and club shine through it because that will attract a broader audience.

*Use your hands and voice effectively, and try to delete all nervous ticks. (such as ‘Uhm,’ ‘like,’ etc.)

*You can never get a speech perfect so try to make all your mistakes light-hearted and get some humor out of it.

You VS The Community

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Out of all the things, this is one that matters the most because if your community supports you, then you will never fall. This is by no means easy as this means doing a lot of things for free. “Effective leadership usually results from convincing members to sacrifice their own benefit for the greater good,” says Chengwei Liu Ph.D. Most likely just you and a few dedicated members are going to do this task unless your club is specifically about helping the community. If it is not some general things that you can do is cleaning up or doing yardwork. Anything that your community needs to be done then free work will be appreciated. It is not like the tasks that will be doing will leave you thankless as this should get you some good exposure from both the press and speeches. One of the worst things that can happen is that you can hurt the community because just as much as they will lift you, they will use that same amount of effort to tear you down. The only thing that you can do is profusely apologize and try to fix any of the misdeeds that you did.

If you can master juggling between these three spheres of influence, then you will be able to wrestle public relations in any way that you want. As stated by psychologist Brett Laursen, Ph.D., “The first thing I think that parents can do is that they can help children recognize that attempts to influence them are everywhere.” A good club leader can handle the public to have them keep your club afloat for years. Whatever you do then do not disregard public relations because you will fade to dust the moment that you do.

 

 

Maintaining A School Club

 

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So hey, look at you, it seems that you have a club on your hands. Congrats but did you know that sixty-three percent of clubs all fail during the first three months. Hardly more than ten percent make it past their first year. There is a lot of different factors that you have to monitor all at once to the point where we won’t cover half of them here. Stress not, there are tonnes of information that can be found on the other articles on this site, but for those who are still green at this club business then this is the article for you.

Keep Hands/Eyes On The Money

This might sound easy but remember that sixty-three percent? Financial issues were the downfall for easily over half, somewhere around the fifty-five to sixty-two percentage mark, contributed to poorly managed finances to theft. The issue is that both of these problems are easy to fix with the right know how. The former just takes putting people you can trust in a high position of power. This does not have to be your friend but that guy who has been giving his all to this club since day one.

The latter is a bit more tricky. While the school security has a bit of play with that so do you. While we recommend that you be open about your budget, there is no any reason that members should know where the money was stored. Now how you save the money is just as important but the old and tried method never fails. Simply get a lockbox where only you have the key or combination. As the leader, this box should not be open without your presence anyways.

Broadening The Selection Process

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The rest of that percentage was due to the club dropping off in interest. A variety of reasons can cause this, but let us discuss the main one. It turns out that the narrow selections process, which is needed only in the early stages, is one of the main contributors. Once you get the budget and talk to the club about allowing new members, then fliers are the solution to this. Going public about your club will make someone crawl out of the woodworks. What is going to make then turn around will not be the content or merit of your club but the membership fine. To counterbalance this, we recommend doing a sliding system where first and long term members are incentivised to start because they will pay significantly less. The best part is saying that this was all your idea.

The Most Important Rule

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All arguments and disagreements should be handled in a civilised manner. As much as this will stress you out, or until you elect a person to deal with these issues, all complaints about the club should be taken with you. Not only will this make the complaints less fluent but only the dangerous things will get made to you. If you notice that members are down each other throat, then it is your responsibility to solve these issues. It might seem that a lot of responsibilities fall on your head, but no one said being a leader is easy. Just think of it like this rather the club raised to unprecedented heights or burn before it even starts, you can claim responsibility for it. Perhaps your organisation can even outlast you to the point where you will have to pass on this lovingly handcrafted torch. Remember, if this does last then your resume will outshine in the crowd of dull lights. Good luck.

The Quick Fire Way To Start A Club

The chances are that you just came up with a great idea for a club that you know is just going to be stellar! Well hold your horses, before we can do anything, we need to know a few things first such as how do we start this club? Who do I need to talk to about spreading the word about it? Do organisations require any money? Read through the entirety of this article and you will have all the answers along with knowledge of how to start your club as soon as possible.

Establish The Club To Self/School

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One of the first things that you need to do is to make sure that you have an idea that is popular. Try to casually talk to your friends about it and ensure that you have all the obvious questions answered. Trust us here, the last thing that you want to do is present your idea unprepared. So take that extra time to make sure you know what you are doing and talking with others can go a long way. You may even be recruiting future members.

Once you have it, all visualise in your head, then go ahead with the pitch. There are various reasons that your club can be shoot down that has nothing to do with the way the pitch went. The school just could not have the room to support this. Is your school overrun with clubs? Remember all those obvious questions? Well, take the time to make sure nothing is stopping you from starting this club and be prepared to use the information that you have gain.

Spread/Plan The Word

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So we are going to assume that your idea got accepted. One of the first things that you should do is spread the word and start recruiting members. Do not expect everything to start off pretty. Remember that most clubs fail not a year or so down the line but during these first few rocky weeks. Once you get a handful of members, then it is the time that you hold your first meeting. Get prepared for a lot of things to get put on the table and if they are not then it is your job to put them there. All of this will vary on many factors such as the idea of your club, members, goals, etc.

Planning is the key word here. If you think that you are under planning, then note that if you do not already have a road for how the next year will go from the first meeting to establishing the funds for the club, then you are dangerously unprepared. As much as we would love to write a checklist of all the things that you should plan for, there is nothing general about it. You wanted to start a club well here is the hard truth. You are going to have to build it from the ground up and with your own hands.

Budgeting The Machine

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The chances are that you are going to start this club with zero dollars to its name. If you can get your club up and running without any money, which is just highly unrealistic, then more power to you. For those of us in the real world, then note every dollar you get is valuable and that every cent of it should only touch trusted hands. You should have a steady influx of cash with member fees and everyone in the club should know this. Show everyone where every dollar is going and how you are attempting to run your club because of congrats if you did everything here then you are already starting one. Good luck.

What Types Of School Clubs Should You Consider Starting?

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Foreign language classes, tutorial sessions on various subjects, entrepreneurship workshops, and the like – are just some of the examples of the school clubs or after-school activities that aim to extend every student’s education.

These clubs, according to research, provide the opportunities for students to participate,  get involved,  try and explore activities. Certain clubs also allow you to interact with different people in a supervised setting, form relationships and bond with adults, and allows the development of skills and interests in a variety of areas that your chosen club/s offer/s.

In addition, because adolescent years are when teenagers like you are more prone to developing a mental illness like anxiety and depression – school clubs can be great distractions to focus your attention on.

However, while it is truly an enjoyable and memorable experience joining the school club/s of your choice, you might be the one who doesn’t just go with the flow. Rather, you have the initiative, passion, leadership skills, and capabilities to plan, run, and organize your own school club to help your fellow students pick the right choice, explore further, and develop their skills and talents. The very reason why you are reading this article!

Remember that there are a lot of things to consider when starting your own school club. But the very first step to make is to choose what type of school club you want to consider starting.

 At this very moment, it is understandable that you might be feeling straight up anxious about the what if’s. To help you with that, this article discusses the different types of school clubs that you might want to consider starting.

Consider starting academic clubs.

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Be more specific about what kind of academic club you want to organize – is it Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Literature, History, or the like? There are plenty of subjects to choose from and to explore more deeply.

To make it thrive, consider gathering peers and classmates who are as enthusiastic as you are about the particular subject matter. And once you’ve done this, think about what specifically you want your club to focus on – do you like doing free tutorials to help with projects and assignments or do you want to provide lectures and review classes?

Academic clubs are one of the interesting school clubs to invest your effort in. Many students struggle with the anxiety of dealing with both their subjects and extracurricular activities. You can start by providing them support and helping them survive the difficulties of academics.

Consider starting hobby or activity clubs.

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Now, if you’re not into academics that much but into hobbies instead, then why not start hobby clubs – such as anime, chess, video games, hiking, painting, or poetry writing clubs.

While this idea is already very exciting in itself as it will allow students to enjoy what they love doing while making friends, you can make it more interesting. For example – organize a small anime convention if you consider starting an anime club.

If you prefer the chess club, you can hold a tournament. As an added bonus, think about how your club can give back to the school or community. You might want to consider charging reasonable fees for your events and use the collected money to benefit a charity.

Consider starting sports clubs.

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If you are passionate about sports, if there is/are sport/s that you are good at and you want to teach others, or if there are sport/s that is/are not offered in your school – forming a sports club is a good idea.

However, consider the following – how many students are interested in participating especially if you want to form a not-so-famous sport and convincing students might be a little challenging? Are you going to seek for competitions against one another or against other schools’ clubs?

While competitions in sports are a great way to build confidence, bonding, and friendship, it doesn’t necessarily have to be competitive at all. What’s necessary is for it to be safe and enjoyable at the same time.

Consider starting political clubs.

There are many things that you can do when you start a political club, however, remember to be specific as well.

For example – you can focus on organizing a political magazine/journal/newspaper club that aims to analyze and understand political issues through interviewing local politicians.

How about a debate club? You can host and organize debate activities and contests or make your club a platform for aspiring student debaters to improve their abilities and brush off the anxiety when speaking in front of the public.

But, remember to consult first with the school. While most institutions won’t mind that their students are engaged in political issues, you have to clear it out that your beliefs as a group don’t reflect that of your institution’s.

Consider starting theater and arts clubs.

Source: rmit.edu.au

Shakespeare, monologue, comedy clubs, and the like can be great choices if you are interested in the theater and arts club.

Read different plays and put on a production. Help students find the monologues they like and have them perform in front of the group. Let your members write scripts, direct, and perform, and finally give feedback and ideas on how to improve and develop more of the performance.

A lot of students aspire to attend college for acting. And because they have to perform as part of the audition, feeling anxious is inevitable. For this matter, let your club be the platform and training ground for a great practice where your members can improve and develop more of their talent.

Combating Depression With Gratitude

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Though the fight may seem like it already ended, coming home is not what it used to be for our beloved military people. For some, there is a never-ending war in their minds. Repetitive sounds of bombs going off, children crying, the voices of their fallen comrades, and showers of bullets are probably killing them in their sleep right now.

Depression is a very common symptom of PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is commonly known as “shell shock” or “combat stress”. The symptoms brought by combat stress can be very agonizing for war veterans. “To be diagnosed with PTSD, you usually have to be directly affected by the traumatic event, believing that your own life or those you care about are in danger,” says psychiatrist Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, MD, chief of psychiatry at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.

Combat stress gives a very heavy burden which is likened to the feeling of having the battlefield inside the mind. A lot of veterans would suffer from depression brought by the intense amount of stress from their experiences during the war. According to Alicia H. Clark, PsyD, “Working effectively with stress requires taking control of our responsibility and our attitude.” 

Now, you probably are feeling the urge to help out or reach out to these people. We all have been blessed with brave men and women who are ready to risk their lives even if it means suffering physically and mentally.

Now is the time to show our gratitude by helping them out in whatever situation they are in right now. “During a moment of offering kindness, there’s a certain kind of connection that can happen, especially if the other person receives it graciously,” says John Amodeo Ph.D., MFT.

The question is, with the feeling of gratitude we have in our hearts, how can we help them fight depression?

Reach Out And Talk To Them

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Find someone whom you can thank for serving in the military. For people who are suffering from depression, it is a great help to make them feel that someone is there for them. Moreover, it would really have a greater effect on them to find out that some stranger is grateful for their lives.

If you feel like saying “thank you” is not enough, do what you think will make our heroes feel good. Take them out for lunch. Drive them to your friends and families. Let them share their inspiring stories to your loved ones.

Let them know that they are important and everything they have experienced is recognized. There are people who acknowledge their greatness and contribution to our country.

Volunteer And Initiate Professional Help

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We all know that the best way to approach depression is through professional help and proper treatment. If you are not a professional, do not stop helping. You can always volunteer and give a hand not only to our soldiers but also to institutions and organizations who have the same mission. There are several groups and organizations out there that want to help out war veterans.

Soldier On is an organization that offers free service to veterans. You can do your research to find some institutions near you that would cater to volunteers. You can also offer to connect mental health professionals (try BetterHelp psychologists) to war veterans who are not yet connected with one.

Share Awareness

Share the truth about the condition of our war veterans. This is one way to show that you are really grateful for their sacrifices. Talk about this to your friends and families. Maybe, like you, they will also feel grateful for the sacrifices of our heroes.

One reality about the mental health field for militaries is that there are not enough psychiatrists for veterans as reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune. If you are a medical professional, a psychiatrist to be specific, another way to help out is to offer your services to the veterans. Talk about this need for mental health care. Who knows, you might just meet someone who is willing to help out our veterans!

 

 

Teachers: The Heroes Our Society Needs

 

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Society is in dire need of heroes, people who heed the call to serve. Often, we look at our soldiers as heroes for keeping us safe from threats. We also regard doctors and those in the field of medicine as heroes for tending to our health. These are the people we consider working above and beyond for the betterment of our society. However, people need to take a better look at the most basic and yet dignified profession that contributes in indescribable ways to society: teaching.

All of us have teachers that we will never forget. Teachers who eventually turn into our mentors, and at the same time become our friends. You are probably thinking one of your most memorable teachers right now, whether it is your 6th grade English teacher or your 11th grade Math teacher. Whoever it may be, this teacher of yours must have shared his or her knowledge and wisdom not just to you, but to your whole class. Depending on how you interpreted this invaluable piece of knowledge, it struck you so much that you kept it within you for years.

Psychologist Julius Segal wrote, “One factor turns out to be the presence in their lives of a charismatic adult — a person from whom they gather strength. And in a surprising number of cases, that person turns out to be a teacher.”

Multiple sacrifices

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A teacher’s job is often overlooked. “Teachers need the same kind of support that doctors receive who are doing their residency training under supervision,” psychologist Isaac Prilleltensky says. “And they usually don’t get it.” When young kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up, how many do you think would answer “teacher”? Teaching isn’t really seen as a glamorous job, and yet, it is one of the most laborious. Imagine the stress that a teacher undergoes in preparation for a semester, or better yet, the school year.

The list of things that a teacher does as a job is seemingly endless. For one, he or she has to come up with lesson plans every single day. But before this, a teacher must read and fully comprehend the lesson to be taught to his or her class.

Another responsibility of a teacher is finding effective strategies to teach the topics so that the students would remember and retain the lessons for future references. Moreover, materials to be used for a day’s session are also provided by the teacher, frequently with their own resources or money.

In essence, a teacher’s work is never really done. They are always so busy that it’s difficult to find time for themselves. Not to mention, many teachers are also doing their own studying, taking up further studies and completing their master’s or Ph.D. degrees while balancing their career as a teacher. These are some of the things that teachers sacrifice for the benefit of their students.

Shaping the future of the students

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The teachers who strike us the most are those who taught us during our formative years. This is mainly because our teachers in the classroom are the ones who help us to be better individuals, not just in the classroom, but also in the outside world.

Some of them become our friends or our advisers and we can turn to them when we need some guidance. Essentially, they are our counselors. You can just come up to a teacher of yours and talk to him or her about things unrelated to school at no cost, so you wouldn’t have to worry about how much is therapy: https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/therapy/can-i-afford-to-see-a-counselor-how-much-does-therapy-cost/.

Teachers provide us with answers to our questions about school and about the world because they are more experienced than us. They share with us many things that we can apply to our personal lives.

A good teacher will not just simply teach you academics. He or she will also impart how to live your life in an ideal way. They shape their students’ malleable minds. It is up to them to make the next batch of individuals responsible and knowledgeable so that they can contribute to society. This is why we need more competent and dedicated teachers today.