Slauson Middle School
Builders Club Guidelines

Created July 2000, revised Sept. 2000, by Jeannine LaSovage, Doris Sprentall, and Rachel Knopf

"Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve." -Martin Luther King
"Builders Clubs - We serve to build community"
"Builders Clubs - Giving back to our community"
"Builders Clubs - Building a future for our school and community"
"Builders Clubs - School and community service"
"Builders Clubs - Building relationships in our school and community"

Introduction

Builders Clubs are co-educational service organizations sponsored by Kiwanis clubs. They provide young people of Junior High or Middle School age with the opportunity to help others, to serve their community and school, and to build a positive future for themselves. Clubs are a means to demonstrate how we value young people and to recognize their achievements, community contributions, and personal and collective potentials.
See Kiwanis International: www.buildersclub.org/bwhat.htm

We acknowledge the complex challenges that young people face in our complex world. Through Builders Clubs, we will strive to provide as many opportunities as possible for our middle school students to become active, involved, articulate, and responsible citizens within their schools and within the broader community where they live. We understand that these clubs will empower youth and promote a local youth service movement, which will in turn create a healthier community, foster citizenship of all youth and adults involved, and encourage the personal development of our young people.
See Youth Service America: Making Service the Common Experience of All Young Americans, at www.ysa.org

Goals for Builders Clubs

Builders Clubs are ideally suited for students in the age range of 11-15 to

Provide youth opportunities to work together in service to their school and their community
Develop leadership potential
Foster development of strong moral character
Encourage loyalty to school, community, and nation

Kiwanis Club Roles

Kiwanis Clubs responsibilities include

Initiate the development and organization of a Builders Club in accordance with guidelines provided by Kiwanis International
Obtain the approval and ownership of a club from school officials so it is established as a school-sanctioned organization
Recruit initial members
Schedule the organizational meetings
File the Petition for Charter with the one-time payment of a $70 charter fee (No annual fees are required)
Plan for the charter presentation event
After the club is fully operating, provide continuous coordination, counsel, and assistance

The Builders Club is a local organization only; there is no division, district, or international Builders Club. There are no club or per-member fees to Kiwanis International Clubs. Clubs may charge dues, but it is recommended that dues do not exceed $1 per member. Clubs may be co-sponsored by Kiwanis, Key, and Circle K Clubs.

Advisor and Co-Coordinator Roles

The school staff advisor is fundamentally responsible for the Builders Club. It is proposed that 2 Kiwanis and 2 University of Michigan Circle K members be co-coordinators for each Builders Club to support the advisor and youth with planning and projects.

We recognize three basic keys to quality youth development: hands-on activities, appropriate adult mentors, and opportunities to engage in community service.
From University of Minnesota Extension Service: www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/youthdevelopment/DA6715.html

Youth development, or the process of growing up and developing one's capacities, happens no matter what we do. The challenge is to promote positive youth development and to plan quality experiences with young people. The following guide is a working tool to stimulate, challenge, and encourage youth and adults as they work together to plan, implement, and evaluate quality club and community service experiences.

Possible Goals for Fall 2000

Establish weekly club meetings at Slauson.
Help students define their mission and goals; market their club to their peers and school; recruit members, and have at least one purely fun activity at each meeting!
Students plan and implement 1 or 2 service projects.
Assist students in assessing school and neighborhood needs, identifying who is already doing community service work, and choosing 1 or 2 short-term projects they want to do. May be something purely on their own or with an existing school or community group.
Students work with Kiwanis and/or Circle K to help them with 1 or 2 service projects.
Assist students looking at projects Kiwanis and Circle K are doing in the fall, picking a couple they would like to help out with, and contacting/arranging to partner with them.
Suggestions:
- Paint pumpkins and give away
- Blood Drive - With UM Circle K: Have flyers to pass out while trick or treating?
- "Safe Kids" Program: Go to feeder elementary schools
- Anna Botsford Bach Home: Sponsor bingo or another monthly activity
- VA Hospital: Decorate cafeteria monthly; make meal favors; collect clothing, toiletries, magazines
- Canned Food Drive for needy families
- Christmas: Salvation Army Bell-Ringing with Kiwanians
Students select personal discovery and career/college planning workshops they would like for themselves (and might offer to peers) from UM Reach Out! Open to do 1-2 workshops with them this semester. Some members may want to work with Karyl to become workshop facilitators.
If some students have particular career interests, Karyl and Gene may try to hook them up with a Kiwanis career mentor. Career fair with Neutral Zone in April?
End of semester recognition at Kiwanis meeting. Time for Builders Club members to share what they have done this semester, things they have had fun doing, projects on their own and with Kiwanis and/or Circle K, etc. Kiwanis to give them something in recognition of their club and personal service to community, too.