“There’s more to school than the four walls of your classrooms. Endless opportunities to get involved to offer a lot of exciting experiences to learn from!” – This might be the line that you always tell your schoolmates when promoting your club. But is it enough to get them interested?
From the art club and poetry to outdoor pursuits, students have a lot of choices when it comes to extracurricular groups in schools. This also means that you have lots of rivals on building your team. So how do you stand out from the rest and encourage students to join your club?
Adapt to the new traditions.
Today’s generation – the millennials – aren’t impressed with the usual school club set up. Students always seek for something new, exciting, and “cool”. So forget whatever old traditions your club has that make it feel like you’re living in the 1970’s. Focus on making your club trendy, appealing, and engaging. All the while, make sure that your club members feel at home and are learning a lot from the experience.
Make your meetings more interesting.
Create a different kind of experience and start it with your meetings. Remember that meetings shouldn’t always be that serious. Explore and turn your meetings into memorable get-together that everyone can enjoy. At the same time, make sure that the important agendas are being tackled and addressed appropriately.
Provide alternatives to weekly meeting attendance.
Attendance is one of the main concerns of every club and organization. However, you should be able to understand that your club members can also be very busy with academics and other school activities. When these situations occur, give alternatives to your members by counting their participation in your club events.
Bear in mind that being strict with attendance is a must but you should know when and when not to.
Make each member of your club feel valued and appreciated.
Like you, everyone wants to do their best to help the club and its members. So, take time to appreciate everyone’s effort and let them know that you value what they do for the growth, development, and improvement of the team.
A person who feels appreciated will more likely to go above and beyond for the team. This will not only make them strive harder, but also they will be happier in their roles. It also eases conflict resolution. School clubs need everyone to cooperate.
Treat everyone equally, relate to them, and don’t act like you’re above them.
Whether you’re a leader, an officer, or a senior in your club – putting yourself on a pedestal will not create a good working relationship with your club members. Always remember to put yourself on their level and help them to grow and develop more. When they’re having problems, showing them that you care and that everyone is there to lend a hand will help them overcome their challenges.
Celebrate with them!
Students join school clubs to gain more friends, if not for experience and learnings. However, one thing you can offer them is not just friendship – but family. Celebrate your club members’ achievements and show them that the team is happy for what they’ve achieved. You could put up a banner, or post something on your school club social media! This will not only inspire them to do better but will also strengthen the bonds between the club and its members.