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Hi,
I'm interested in starting a
club at my high school somewhat
related to feminism and such,
and was wondering if you would
be able to suggest any way to
go about that. I'm not for sure
what exactly the club should
encompass, other than discussions.
Should I be affilitated with
any larger group? I'm feeling
a need for something to empower
the girls at my school, and
have some interest, and was
just hoping you could provide
me some guidance, or send me
somewhere that would help me
with this endeavor! Thank you
- Lori
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Every
school is different and, therefore,
it's hard to have one standard
answer. I can, however, talk
to you about what I have seen
work in the past. Some schools
have student activities committees
and each new group has to be
approved through this group.
So if that's the case in your
school that should be your first
stop. Otherwise, you should
just come up with a name ("Girlfriends"-
or something like that) - and
start meeting.
Also,
in some schools you might need
a faculty advisor - someone
to report to, someone who will
argue good things on your behalf,
etc....There might be an obvious
faculty member who you like,
and get along with. There might
be another one who is less obvious,
but likely to be equally enthusiastic.
So once you have those logistics
in place, you can start organizing.
For
your first meeting - you can
just post flyers or hand them
out - make sure to include a
meeting time and a place - hopefully
an empty classroom and a time
just after classes end. If you
are going to do it next year
- maybe you can make an announcement
in your first assembly or try
to get an article in your schools
newspaper if you have one. You
can make this first meeting
general - "Come learn about
a new club/group! It will be
a place to share, learn and
thrive or to change your community.
Whatever you want!". You should
also make sure to come up with
a second meeting time - the
first Tuesday of every month
or every Tuesday, whatever you
think would be best. You need
to give the group some structure,
but you also need to make sure
that there is enough room for
people to feel like they can
make it their club, too.
As
for what to cover - similarly
you need to raise issues that
people might not come to on
their own, but which they support,
but you also have to leave room
to express/explore new issues
as they arise. As for what issues
to cover, these should be issues
that are closest to your fellow
classmates. For instance, perhaps
sexual assault or access to
sports. I actually have some
guidelines that I could send
you about how to go about setting
this up. If you send me your
mailing address, I will go ahead
and send them. I hope that helps
and is enough incentive for
you to continue to pursue your
idea. I think it's great and
I wish you good luck. Let me
know if I can help.
Amy
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