The best way to help young people develop into lifelong servant leaders is to give them personal experience in high-impact service. That’s what Builders Club is all about: members see how they can make a difference and become leaders through service.
And that’s why we’ve created the
IDEA Toolkit: to help guide Builders Clubs’ advisors as they empower students to find their passion for service and take the lead in service projects that make a lasting impact in their school and/or community. Of course, we know that each club is different. The
IDEA Toolkit is tailored specifically for Builders Club members, and it’s designed for advisors and club officers to pick and choose activities they feel would most benefit their club.
The IDEA Toolkit is comprised of four steps:
- Identify the Need
- Develop the Passion
- Execute the Project
- Advance the Impact
Each step contains instructions, handouts and tools for club officers. Advisors and club officers should review the toolkit together before getting started--and then use it as a resource along the way. Although we recommend spending four weeks on each step, there is no set timeline for using the IDEA Toolkit.
Using Identify the Need
As your club gets up and running, members will be excited to choose their focus for their first service project. Every school and community needs some kind of service. But how do you know what to do? To answer that question, the first step in IDEA is Identify the Need. First, your club should identify the service need you want to address. In this step, your club will investigate your school and community needs to identify how the club can help.
Goals - Members will explore possible service needs in their area through personal reflection, club activities and gathering others’ perspectives and observations.
- Members will present their ideas and understand how their club can make a difference.
- Members will work together to decide what service needs to address with a project.
Planning - Advisors and club officers should
- Read all the worksheets and activities in the Identify the Need section of this toolkit. View them online at buildersclub.org/IDEA.
- Work together to answer this question: Which activities will be done during meetings, and which ones should members do individually?
- Figure out which club officer will lead the club through each activity and how to get the best results.
- Have fun and be proud that your club is making a big difference! When your club has successfully identified the need, it will help members feel more connected to the service project they ultimately select.
