A great way to set up your Builders Club for success next year is to select and train club officers before the end of this year. Follow these steps to get a head start:
First things first: Hold club officer elections.
- Review the responsibilities of each officer position with the club.
- Ask interested members to submit their names as candidates and add their names to a ballot.
- Ask each candidate to speak to the club about why they want to be an officer. Officers can create a campaign poster or participate in a question-and-answer session with members.
- Ask members to vote for the candidate they want for each position using a ballot or piece of paper.
- Count the votes and announce the members elected at the club’s next meeting.
To prepare for training:
- Pick a date, time and location for the training.
- Send an invitation to outgoing and new Builders Club officers and committee chairs (if they are participating).
- Invite and secure commitments from the Kiwanis club advisor and other adults to help with the training.
- Determine responsibilities/tasks for each volunteer.
- Review the Builders Club Advisor Toolkit, Member & Officer Toolkit, and Service Toolkit (available in your program kit and at buildersclub.org/advisors). Then determine what parts of the resources to include in the training.
- Ask outgoing club officers to reflect on what they learned from being leaders, so they’re prepared to share their thoughts with incoming officers during training. Provide specific reflection questions to help them prepare: What does it mean to be a great leader? What helped you accomplish your specific responsibilities? What would you do differently if you served again? What worked for you that you would do the same way?
- Determine the training topics and activities. Here are suggestions:
- Have outgoing club officers share their reflections about what they learned as leaders.
- Review and discuss the responsibilities of each officer and committee chair (explained in “Being an Effective Officer and Committee Chair” on pages 30-34 of the Member and Officer Toolkit).
- Teach the Builders Club motto, mission, values and pledge.
- Brainstorm what it means to be a student-led program.
- Share an agenda for a typical meeting, including icebreakers and team-building activities.
- Show the “Ways to Do Service” video so members understand the four ways to serve.
- Give an introduction to Parliamentary Procedure if your club decides to use this during meetings.
- Review the Member and Officer Toolkit and the Service Toolkit — and, if there’s time, determine what activities your officers would like to do with members next year.
- Review Builders Club awards opportunities and the Builders Club Contest Guide.
- Discuss and determine club goals for the year.
- Briefly explain Kiwanis International, the Kiwanis family and the sponsoring Kiwanis club.
- Create the training session agenda from the topics you considered.
Don’t forget to pull together any supplies you’ll need for the training. After that, it’s time to train new club officers. Good luck!