Club Manual - Vivere · 302-120 Eglinton Ave. East. Toronto, ON M4P 1E2 416-483-7869 National Campus Life Network / [email protected] 2300 Yonge St., P.O. Box 67004 ... Student Club Manual

Your Guide to Starting and Maintaining a High School Pro-Life Club

Student Club Manual

National Campus Life Networklifestudent

ink

Copyright © 2012 by Toronto Right to Life Association

All rights reserved.

Acknowledgements: Content by Theresa Gilbert & Paul Klotz

Graphic Design by Larissa Zantua

This document is a partnership between the Toronto Right to Life Association and National Campus Life Network.

Toronto Right to Life Associationwww.righttolife.to / [email protected]

302-120 Eglinton Ave. East. Toronto, ON M4P 1E2

416-483-7869

National Campus Life Networkwww.ncln.ca / [email protected]

2300 Yonge St., P.O. Box 67004Toronto, ON M4P 3C8

416-483-7869

Printed in Canada.

Message from Student Life Link Spokesperson.............1

Introduction....................................................................2

Starting Your Club............................................................4

Finding Other Students...............................................5-6

Club Meetings..................................................................7

Sample Agenda.................................................................8

Interest & Task Sheets......................................................8

Events....................................................................9-10

Plan Your Year.................................................................11

Sample Calendar.............................................................12

Club Structure................................................................13

Club Leaders...................................................................14

Keeping Students Involved............................................15

Budget & Fundraising................................................17-18

Media............................................................................19

Opposition to the Message.............................................20

Tips & Tricks, More Resources...................................21-22

High School Pro-Life Activism: Summer Time.............23-24

Staying Committed & Motivated...................................25

Prayer to End Abortion....................................................27

Pro-Life Organizations...............................................28-31

Contents

Message from Student Life Link Spokesperson

Dear SLL member,

Welcome to the Student Club Manual! Student Life Link is dedicated to helping connect pro-life clubs across Canada and providing advice on how to lead a pro-life club. We at SLL believe that having pro-life clubs is extremely important and we’re very glad that you’ve joined us. We hope that this manual helps you in many ways and encourages you to keep moving forward in the pro-life movement along with your fellow club members.

As the spokesperson for Student Life Link, I would like to thank you for being a part of changing our culture by getting involved in a pro-life club. Each pro-life club that is opened is like a stepping stone that leads us one step closer to our goal. Together we can be the generation that turns the cultural tide in Canada in favor of respect for Life. A pro-life Canada starts here!

Best wishes,

Lia Mills Lia MillsStudent Life LinkSpokesperson

1 Student Club Manual

Student Club Manual 2

In choosing activities, you should be guided by the followingquestions:

1. Who is your target audience and are you reaching them with your method? a) High school students: you need to be focusing your efforts in your school as this is the place that needs to hear the message the most. Very often, if people do not hear and understand the pro-life message in their high school years, they go along with what they hear at university, where pro-abortion sentiments tend to predominate. b) The “mushy middle”: Many of your activities need to be going out to THEM, because they will not come to you (pamphleting, postering, demonstrations and dis- plays).

2. Are your activities the most time effective ways of reaching the greatest amount of people and saving the greatest amount of lives?

3. Does the frequency of your work reinforce the gravity of your message or contradict it? In other words, if you only do one small event at your school, will your fellow students understand that this issue is urgent and lives are on the line? Or, would they understand the urgency if you did regular events using effective strategies?

This Club Manual has been designed with you in mind. It pro-vides information on how to practically and effectively run a pro-life club at your high school. By using this manual to guide you through your pro-life activism, you will change hearts and minds. You will save lives.

For Life,

Paul Klotz Theresa GilbertExecutive Director PresidentToronto Right to Life National Campus Life Network

Introduction

Dear Student Pro-Life Leader,

Thank you for taking on the rewarding challenge of starting and maintaining a pro-life club at your high school! We guarantee that the effort you put into sharing the pro-life message will be a huge contribution to building a Culture of Life in your school, community and the country!

You have a great opportunity to make an impact because:

1. 15% of the over 100,000 abortions happening every year in Canada are performed on girls ages 19 and under,

AND

2. Canada’s future leaders are being formed in your high school.

The students in your school need to hear the pro-life message, understand there is support for both mothers and their child and embrace the message that all human life is valuable.

Many people, including your fellow students, do not fully un-derstand the pro-life message and default to a pro-“choice” position. These people are our main audience for sharing our message: the “mushy middle.”

The “mushy middle”:

● Are on the fence about the abortion issue● Will ignore abortion as long as it ignores them● Considers the wrongness of abortion to change from case to case● Considers the unborn to be “not quite human yet”● Will go on living their lives leaving the morality of abortion up to personal preference.

While it is necessary to respond to abortion from a number of angles, we should be guided by the goal of being as effective and efficient as possible in order to save the greatest number of lives. Just as firefighters have the option of throwing buckets of water on a fire or using powerful hoses, there is no doubt about choosing the most effective option over one with less effective-ness.



Prepare:

Contact the Toronto Right to Life Association and/or National Campus Life Network.

Work with your pro-life teachers/chaplain to find out what you need to do to be recognized as an official club at your high school.

Check out the events pages (pages 9-10) to motivate yourself and others to start the club and save lives.

Find Other Students at Your School:

There are a few options to find other interested students at your school. You can find students using Facebook, other schoolclubs, your friends and family’s contacts and more. Refer to pages 5-6 to begin your search.

Invite People to the First Meeting:

Focus on those contacts you gather who are the most interested in being involved with the starting and running of the club. Ide-ally, you will have at least 5 people you can count on. Contact them about the best time for a meeting. Make sure the meeting time works for the most amount of people. Ask each person di-rectly, “If the meeting is on (date) at (time), will you be there?” This will ensure that at least a few people will attend. Once the date and time are finalized send out an email to all of your con-tacts. Be sure to also call students the day before and have an announcement at school as a reminder.

At your first meeting (either as a new club or starting up the school year) put together an outline for the semester with events and meetings based on the availability and interests of your-self and the other students. Use the meeting guide (page 7) as a guide to develop your outline for the meeting. Your goal for the first meeting should be to discuss the club’s beliefs, goals, and determine how to achieve them.

Hopefully your group is able to meet at least twice a month. Use the Plan Your Year Guide (page 11) to help develop your vision for what your club will accomplish.

Essentials:

1. A pro-life teacher or chaplain ready to work with you.2. Internet communication tools (ie. email address, Facebook account etc).3. Location for first meeting (cafe, easy to find class room etc).

1. Life/Baby Fair2. Host a speaker3. Postering campaign

*see more on pages 9-10

Events We Recommend

Starting Your ClubPurpose: To create a club that will save lives by using effective strategies and developing strong pro-life leaders.

Note: Though this page is geared towards starting up a completely new club, many of these ideas and points should also be used for an already established club looking to grow and become more effective. This is especially helpful for the beginning of a school year.


Finding Other StudentsPurpose: For new clubs to establish a membership base and for established clubs to expand.

Let Your School Know You Exist!

Find out how to book a table to be able to have a club booth/display set up during lunch periods. Do this near the beginning of each semester to tell students about the club and invite them to attend the next meeting.

Display Board Tips & Tricks

Durable backboard with attractive images and brief explanation of club, activities and how to contact the clubClub promotional brochure (order from NCLN or create your own) Flyer with upcoming meetings and events to hand outSign up sheet* with pensA few key resources like NCLN’s Right to Know booklet brochure and information on a local pregnancy center/resourcesCandy, stickers or anything fun to give awayScissors and tape to have on handAt least two members at the board at a timeSmile and be friendlyOffer give-aways (pamphlet, flyer, candy, popcorn, ice cream, lemonade etc) to passersby

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*For an example of a club sign-up sheet please contact NCLN


Current Members

Challenge each current member to bring one new student to the next meeting who would not have already come.

Friends & Family

Ask your friends and family if they know of students at your school who would be interested in joining the pro-life club.Sometimes all it takes is a simple email or phone call letting them know a club exists and they will mention someone they know.

Facebook & Social MediaUse Social Media to share about the club and invite students to attend meetings. Start a Facebook group and invite students to it. As they join, be sure to welcome them personally with a message so they know their involvement is important. Facebook is also good for advertising club events.

Do not let Facebook stop you from also establishing a good personal friendship offline with new members. Lead-ing a group of people that enjoys spending time together and shares common ideals is essential to establishing an effective group. Have regular meetings, plan effective activities at your school and host socials to have fun!

Spread the Word!Create posters to tell your fellow students about the club. Get permission to post them and find out where posters are allowed to go. Post the posters a week before your meeting. During the week have announcements. For sample posters and announcements contact NCLN.

Candy Jar ContestFill a jar with candy and have students guess how many are in the jar. The winner is announced at the next club meet-ing and must be present. Hand out flyers with information on the next meeting so students can attend. If you have a display board created have that out as well.

Other Clubs

Approach clubs that you think share your club’s focus such as Social Justice or Chaplaincy groups. Ask if you can speak briefly about the pro-life club at one of their meetings. Bring a sign-up sheet and flyers to hand out.

For more in-depth information on any of these methods please contact NCLN.


Club MeetingsPurpose: To interest students and get them invested in the club. Use this as a guideline for starting up a club, but also to help structure your meetings for an already existing club.

There are many pro-life videos on YouTube that can be used to show at the beginning, during or end of a meeting. Check the NCLN Video section on their site (www.ncln.ca). Consider arranging for the appropriate audio visual equipment to be able to show a new one at each meeting.

It is vital to always be moving towards a goal (ie. An activity at the school) that each person in the group is able to contrib-ute to. If nothing is happening or someone does not feel they are needed in the group, they will likely find something else to do with their time.

Consider having a “Hot Topic” to discuss at each meeting. Ask one member to bring an article from a recent news item related to the life issues, or a video, article, website etc. that begins a discussion on the issue. Examples: women’s health and abortion, abortion statistics, adoption, community re-sources for pregnant women etc.

H o t T o p i c s !

There are a number of club names you can choose. Here are some examples:

C L U B N A M E

Students for Life

LifeLine

Choose Life

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Introductions:Either yourself or the teacher/chaplain needs to explain the purpose and structure of the club for the benefit of new stu-dents (use Club Leaders on page 14).

Have everyone introduce themselves and hand out the Inter-est Sheets (page 8). The Interest Sheets are a tool to get your group started and new members involved.* During the intro-ductions have everyone also sign in on an attendance sheet – this should be done at all meetings.

Why?As an ice breaker have everyone answer a question or give information about themselves. For example: Why are you at this meeting? Why are you pro-life? Or, give your name, grade, favourite place to travel and last movie you watched, etc.

What?Have a prepared list of event ideas you feel are achievable given the current status of the club.

Options:Many people may not know about the best options for events.Have a discussion around some of the events described onPages 9-10.

Schedule:After seeing the interest level of the members for the event ideas, begin to set tentative dates throughout the term. (Have a calendar handy).

Take Charge:For each event, ask the person that you think is the most motivated and able to lead that event to lead the organization of the event. Then, make sure to track their answer on the task manager sheet.

Delegate Tasks:Assign the tasks that must be done before the next meeting.Use the task sheets (page 8) to help track the tasks.**

Eat & Socialize:End the meeting with some excitement – be enthusiastic aboutthe progress made in the meeting and assure the group thatthere is much to be done and you are confident that together they will be able to accomplish these life-saving tasks. Be sure to have snacks on hand to keep people around to socialize.

First Meeting


• *Have every student who attends your meetings or shows in-terest in the club fill out one of these Interest Sheets. This will help you keep track of their name, grade, how to contact them and what they are interested in.

We suggest keeping an excel document updated with all of this information to refer to as needed and pass on when a new leader comes.

For a page of Interest Sheets email [email protected]

Introduction

— Introduction of group leaders— Pass out Interest Sheets & Attendance Sheet— Faith-based groups may also wish to begin their meeting with a prayer (See “Prayer to End Abortion” on pg. 27).

Why your School Needs a Student Pro-Life Group

— Introduction of why the club is important.

Structure of the Club

— Explain the structure of the club: student leaders (titles?), teachers/chaplains involved, members etc. Show how people can be involved and make a difference.

Icebreaker : Ask each person to give their name, grade, and answer “Why are you pro- life?”

Suggested Event Ideas for the Semester

— Information Fair (Life/Baby Fair)— Host a speaker— Postering campaign— Fundraiser/Awareness event for local maternity home or pregnancy center— Attend other pro-life events (local, national)— Apologetics training seminars— Socials

Our First Event

— Postering Campaign— Will have posters printed for next meeting to distribute— Using the task sheet, assign tasks that must be completed before the next meeting (ie. Design the posters or find a campaign online/ask NCLN, print them, divide into piles, find out rules for posters etc.).

Election of Student Leaders (if needed)

— Nominations/Appointments— Election

Conclusion

— Date, time and location details for the next meeting, plus who will bring the Hot Topic for the next meeting.

Social!

— Meet members after the meeting while enjoying some snacks and drinks.

Suggested Agenda Interest Sheet Example

Example of a filled in Task Sheet:

Event Name: Poster Campaign on Fetal DevelopmentMember Name: Suzy SmithL / H

Date TaskSeptember 23 Decide on the posters September 30 Posters PrintedOctober 4 Organize people to posterOctober 5 Poster in the morning

Task Sheet Example

**Similar to the Interest Sheet, these are used to help stay organized when planning an activity or event. It is important to delegate tasks, and equally important to keep track of who is doing what. This will help you follow-up to ensure all plan-ning is going smoothly.

Fill in the Event Name at the top. Next, fill in the name of the person who will be taking care of the below tasks. Circle “L” if they will be leading or “H” if they are helping a leader. List the tasks involved and when they are due to be complete.

For a page of Task Sheets email [email protected]

Name:Year:Phone #:Email:What types of events are you interested in? Support Politics Culture Resources

What topics are you interested in? Abortion Euthanasia Bioethics Embryonic Stem Cell Research

What are your other interests and hobbies?

Example of a filled in Task Sheet:


Apologetics Training: Learning to Defend the Pro-Life PositionOftentimes we know something is wrong but it is difficult to explain it to someone who is challenging that view. This is especially true for defending the pro-life position on abortion as it is an emotionally charged issue that affects many people per-sonally. Having apologetics training for your group is essential if you are going to promote the pro-life position at your school. There are many arguments circulating in our culture which are used to support abortion or other issues which present a human-made threat to life, and some of these arguments may easily seem justified to people at first. You and your club members need to know the correct responses to these arguments and how to articulate them with ease and confidence. To find out how to get this training contact Toronto Right to Life and/or National Campus Life Network.

Pro-Life Information Faira.k.a. Life Fair / Love Life Fair / Baby FairInvite pro-life community organizations to have a booth in a main student area at your school. Examples: Right to Life, local maternity home, crisis pregnancy centre, post-abortion healing, adoption agency etc. The idea is to show the life-giving options when faced with a crisis pregnancy. Get creative! Have bal-loons, quizzes, games, candy...

Fetal Development AwarenessAt an info booth or fair have images of fetal development orfetal models along with descriptions of what is going on at that stage. Turn it into a game of “Guess My Age” with prizes (life-saver candy!) and an attractive display.

The Silent No More Awareness CampaignGo to SilentNoMoreAwareness.org and contact Angelina Steenstra 905-430-7990 or [email protected] about organizing an event where women who have had abor-tions and regret them share their personal testimony.

Poster CampaignHang posters around your school with a catchy, thought provok-ing pro-life message. Establish a postering committee and re-poster regularly. Use one already designed or create your own! Contact NCLN for ideas or for help and feedback withyour own designs.

Poster campaigns already designed: www.feministsforlife.organd www.unfairchoice.info.

Information BoothsHave your club booth and members set up on a regular basis in a high trafficked area at your school handing out literature and talking to students about the life issues. SpeakerAsk the school if you can plan an assembly day with a guest speaker on a pro-life topic. Before asking, already have in mind the topic and potential speaker. Contact Toronto Right to Life or NCLN for speaker ideas.

DebateA debate is a great way to have both sides of an issue presented. This will take a lot of planning. Contact NCLN for debate for-mats, planning guides and ideas for who to invite.

ConcertOrganize a concert to raise money and awareness for a local pro-life organization.

Write Letters to the EditorWrite a letter to the editor of your school, community and national newspapers to be a voice for the unborn. Assign group members to watch for articles discussing life issues and to write responses.

Graphic Images DisplayA visual display that shows what abortion actually does to the unborn. Group members must be well trained and ready to handle the controversy that will arise from this type of event.Check out www.unmaskingchoice.ca for more information.

EventsPurpose: To choose and organize effective, school events that will change hearts and minds and ultimately save lives!


“Abortion Changes You” CampaignOrder posters and small handouts from the www.abortion-changesyou.com site at http://www.changedbook.com/shop/de-fault.asp. Or, make your own posters with the website (www.abortionchangesyou.com) to get people to go and read peoples’ experience with abortion.

ChalkingUse chalk on your school sidewalk to write pro-life messages.Could be in conjunction with another event (ie. Speaker, de-bate or postering campaign).

Plan SocialsCelebrate successes and thank volunteers by having a social gathering with food. Examples: movie night, apple picking, salsa evening, pot luck, BBQ etc.

Attend Pro-Life Networking Events and ConferencesKeep an eye out for pro-life events and conferences happen-ing in your community. The National March for Life happens every May in Ottawa (www.MarchForLife.ca). Correspond-ing March for Life events take place from coast to coast. Life Chain typically happens the first Sunday of October (www.LifeChain.net). For any graduating Gr. 12s they should attend the National Campus Life Network Symposium in Toronto, Ontario in September, to train, meet other leaders and learn about the life issues (www.ncln.ca). The International Pro-Life conference happens in Canada every year typically in the Fall.

Baby ShowerHost a baby shower at your school to benefit a local maternity home or crisis pregnancy centre. Helps them and also spreads the word about their existence. Advertise at your school that the club will be taking items for the local maternity home at a specific location for a day or a few days. Find out from the maternity home what their needs are (ie. Diapers, bedding etc.).

Diaper DriveSet up a table at your school or at a local store and ask for donations of diapers to help a local maternity home or crisis pregnancy centre.

Get the word out: Pregnancy Resource Centres & Maternity HomesDistribute flyers at your school advertising your local mater-nity home and crisis pregnancy centres. These organizations supply material and emotional help to pregnant women. It is very important that students in your school know about these organizations. It could make a difference to a student or some-one they know who is considering an abortion and believes there are no alternatives. One reason for the high number of abortions is that the existence of these agencies are largely unknown.

Pro-Life Gear!There are many great t-shirts you can buy, but also consider designing your own for the club. Pro-Life gear: www.Abort73.com/gear . Also, get Precious Feet pins from your local pro-life organization and wear them everywhere.

Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity Wear red tape over your mouth or on your clothing to symbol-ize the lives lost to abortion in Canada. Have a flyer to hand out and explain the red tape to your fellow students. If you decide to wear the tape on your mouth please be respectful of your teachers if you are called upon in class and remove the tape to speak.

Visit Nursing HomesRound up a group of students and visit your local nursing home. Contact them ahead of time to find out what they would appreciate: you group could sing, bring pets, read, play games, or simply just be with and talk to the men and women there.

VolunteerLocal pregnancy resource centre, local pro-life organization, day care centre, persons with disabilities, soup kitchen etc.

Combine the Activities!: A Pro-Life Day / WeekUse any number of the event ideas on these pages to plan a Pro-Life Day or Week. If you take on an entire week make sure your members are able to contribute without becoming burnt-out. It is better to do one event very well than many events poorly. But, if you can successfully implement a full week of awesome events – go for it!


Mission Statement

A mission statement provides an anchoring point to keep your club directed. Capture, in one or two sentences, the reason your club exists. The mission statement should be composed at the first or second meeting.

Develop Your Vision Statement

A vision statement explains how you will fulfill your mission. It should be drafted soon after the mission statement. It may state such things as if your group will meet on a weekly basis, hold regular information tables, and designate several days a year for pro-life awareness. Plan your calendar around it. Take into account the talents and passions of your group members. Do not consider limitations. If you wanted to achieve your mis-sion in one year, how would you do it?Write the answers to these questions down on a separate pieceof paper:

-What do you want to accomplish in terms of...

Analysis

Now be practical and critical. Honestly assess where your group is and what its limitations and advantages are.

-How many regularly attending members do you have and how many will you need? -What money, speakers, advertisements and other resources does your group need? -What skills does your group need to learn? -What events will...

Develop Your CalendarWhat follows is a guide to creating your ideal year, including space to help you plan which activities to do, when you will be doing them, and who will be in charge. We recommend you fill this out either as soon as your group begins or shortly

after you transfer power to new leaders. Events will differ with each group depending on the resources, skills and manpower of your group as well as the culture and size of your school.

Budget Your Year

In order to pay for your year, first create a budget. To learn how to do this, turn to pages 17-18.

Event Types

Group: Increasing your membership or developing the skills of the members of the club.Culture & Media: Influencing hearts and minds so that they join in the protection of all human life.Resources: Changing a school to make it more pro-life and provide the resources and services to aid single mothers.Support: Directly helping families with resources and services.

Leading the club should revolve around three things to achieve your vision:

Plan Your YearPurpose: To develop a vision for how the club will effectively change your school. Brain-storm before the beginning of the year, if possible, and always re-evaluate after a term to see what went well and what needs to be improved upon.

1. GROWRecruit the necessary members

2. ACTIVATE Members

should be asked to

help out

3. DEVELOPRe-invest in members

so they can achieve more

Group growth?Influencing your school’s culture?Supporting families?

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Challenge and make the group grow?Make members more active and committed?Make the biggest impact in your school?

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SEPTEMBER

Week 1: Leaders Meeting.Week 2: Kick-off the Term General Meeting 1. If you have positions in the club (ie. President, Secre- tary etc.) this would be the time to have elections if you did not do so the end of last year or are just starting as a club.Week 3: Information/Display Table (later in the week). Week 4: General meeting 2. Welcome new members from the info table. Postering campaign: plan for at least two mornings. Discuss a Hot Topic and assign someone for next meeting. Set dates for Apologetic Training.

OCTOBER

*Life Chain 1st Sunday of October. International Pro-Life Conference typically in October. Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity end of October. Week 1: General Meeting 3. Hot Topic and Apologetics Training. Week 2: General Meeting 4. Plan first semester event. Advertise First Main Event with Facebook, posters and announcements. Week 3: Information Booth to get new members and advertise upcoming event. Week 4: Semester Event 1- Life Fair

NOVEMBER

Week 1: General Meeting 5. Evaluate semester event. Hot Topic and practice Apologetics. Plan for next event.Week 2: Movie Night & Postering for Speaker (2 times).Week 3/4: Semester Event 2- Speaker.

DECEMBER

Week 1: General Meeting 6. Evaluate semester event. Hot Topic and plan social and community out reach to happen before Christmas holidays.

JANUARY

Week 1: General Meeting 7. Hot Topic and practice apologetics. *Since the students are entering exams soon, gauge how busy they are with studying to figure out the best plans for January. Week 3/4: Exams. Good Luck!!!

FEBRUARY

Week 1: Social! Welcome back from exams. Week 2: General Meeting 8. Hot Topic and plan for new semester. If you have positions in the club (ie. President, Secretary etc.) this would be the time to have elections so that any graduating leaders have time to assist new leaders. National March for Life!: plan and fundraise as early as possible.Week 3/4: Postering campaign (Plan for at least two mornings) and info tables during lunch. Host Diaper Drive.

MARCH

Week 1: Visit maternity home to drop off items. Week 2: General Meeting 9 (early in the week). Plan for semester event that will follow March Break. National March for Life!: continue planning.Week 4: Advertise for semester event.

APRIL

Week 1: Semester Event 1- Silent No More Awareness Campaign.Week 2: General Meeting 10. Evaluate semester event. Hot Topic and practice apologetics. National March for Life!: continue planning.Week 3: Display Table (later in the week).Week 4: Movie night.

MAY

Week 1: Meeting for National March for Life last minute plans and info. Week 2: National March for Life (or regional March for Life events).Week 3: General Meeting 11. Debrief the trip. Gather testimonies, photos and videos for school news letter/newspaper/yearbook. If you have positions in the club (ie. President, Secretary etc.) this would be the time to have elections before the year.

*See our BONUS Summer Activism Resource to continue saving lives throughout the summer, pages 23-24.

Sample CalendarNote: Use this as a guide and keep in mind that each group will have various factors affecting when and how they can do things ie. members’ schedules, other school events, etc.


President

In contact with each leader ensuring they are completing tasks.Runs the meeting and elections.If there is no leader for a particular aspect of the club they fill that part.

Vice President

Responsible for fulfilling the complete duties of the President in his/her absence.Assists the President and other leaders in fulfilling their duties as appropriate, and is responsible for overseeing and reporting on the progress of club events and projects.

Secretary or Note Taker

In charge of taking minutes at meetings, sending emails to members, keeping list of members’ information etc.Tracks action items noted at meetings and works withPresident to ensure tasks are being completed.Keeps files on meetings, events, literature, results of activities, articles, members, resources and relationships with other organizations.

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Treasurer

Takes care of the financial aspects of the club.

make a budgetdevelop and track donorsmake and track expendituressee Budget on page 17.

Other Options

You may feel that the interests and talents of some students in your group fit better into other positions such as: Events Lead-er, Support Leader (researches and develops ways to promote resources available for pregnant students etc.), Membership Leader (responsible for recruiting) and Media Leader (alerts the group when a letter to the editor is needed etc.).

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Club StructurePurpose: To give you some guidelines for setting up the club.

Do not feel you need to fill each role or have these exact designations. Work with the inter-ests and talents of your members.

Sometimes it is not possible to have official titles. This is ok, but you may run into issues as none of the students feel any obligation or responsibility to the club. Therefore, they only show up to meetings or events if they want to, instead of always showing up and complet-ing tasks because they know they are contrib-uting and their contributions are recognized by their position in the club.

President

Vice President

Secretary or Note Taker

Treasurer


The ideal flow of Members to a Club Leader:

A new student is recruited (pages 5-6).

They become a potential member who attends a meeting → Develop relationships between leaders and potential members, as well as asking them to do some small tasks for the club → They become a member who only attends meetings and most events → Give specific tasks with more responsibility → Delegate by asking the member to be in charge of an entire project or event → They are now leaders who take charge and have responsibilities → Transition with elections. New and old leaders plan the upcoming year together → Leaders are now established who have permanent responsibilities and titles.

Prepare Future Leaders

Each leader should be training and planning for their replace-ment from the moment they take on a leadership role in the club. They should do this by identifying potential leaders and working with them throughout the year.

Delegate Tasks

Each time you delegate and train someone to do a new task, expect it to take longer than if you had done it yourself. How-ever, realize that now you’ll never have to do that task again. It is an investment not only in the future of the club, but in saving your time.

Announce Elections

There are three times we suggest for Club Elections. The first, and most ideal, is in February when the students come back from exams. This allows for leadership transition to take place for the remainder of the school year. This is especially impor-tant if some of the current leaders are graduating.

The second best time for Club Elections is at the close of the school year. It is important that students know who is a leader before summer begins so the leaders can stay in contact and fulfill their leadership duties (ie. Planning in the summer, send-ing out emails etc.).

The third option we suggest (which is actually the best and only option for a new club), is having Club Elections at the beginning of the school year in September.

For Club Elections make sure members are aware when and where the elections will be held. Give a brief description of each position (see page 13 for suggestions) and what value it has brought to the current leader (if applicable).

Encouraging Candidates

Before Club Elections, current leaders should focus on encour-aging their replacements and giving increasing responsibilities to them. They should help potential leaders realize their capac-ity to make an impact and nominations should be taken a week before the elections.

Elections

The President should be voted on first, and the secondary positions should follow. This way, if someone is nominated for President and loses, they aren’t prevented from seeking another position.

Transition

The new leaders should be in regular contact with the out-go-ing leaders to ensure they are equipped and ready to be an effective leader. Out-going leaders should stay in touch with the club if they are graduating to help ensure the history of the club is not forgotten.

Celebrate

Formally transition leadership and celebrate as the final event for old and new coordinators.

Club Leaders Purpose: To develop members into leaders and transition to new leadership.


Keeping Students InvolvedPurpose: To turn potential members into future leaders.

Increase your members

Communicate and build relationships

with members

Call members to action

MISSION

First Meeting

By the end of the first meeting (page 7), a new member should have been...1. Asked what their interests are and how they want to help.2. Asked to do a small task based on those interests (hanging posters, painting a banner etc.).3. Invited to meet with a leader who has similar interests.

Relationships

The members that share similar interests to a leader should be assigned to that leader. The leader is then responsible for developing the member by personally getting to know them, utilizing their relationship to assign appropriate tasks, motivat-ing the member by expressing the importance of the task, and checking on the member when they become relaxed in their duties.

Group Cycle

Always be doing one of the three following things:

Delegation

Delegation will require leaders to come prepared with written descriptions of tasks and a task sheet to track who is assigned to which task. One common mistake when delegating is trying to delegate to anyone willing. The better technique is to use the personal relationships developed to assign tasks to the appro-priate individual.

Socials

As a person gives their time and helps the club succeed they also deserve recognition. Be sure to thank members and get to know them on a more personal level. One good way to do this is to have socials.

1. Assign one of the leaders to host and plan the event. If you have a Membership Leader they would be best. 2. Pick a date at least three weeks in advance and encourage people to invite friends.3. Motivate fellow leaders of the group to try to recruit individuals at the social.

Social Ideas: Apple Picking, Tobogganing, Salsa evening (orother dance), dinner, potluck, movie, local concert... get creative and find out what your members like to do!

Development

Your goal is to develop future leaders and activists by hav-ing individuals invest increasingly greater amounts of their time into something of which they will eventually take partial ownership. Once they begin to feel responsible for something, members will become committed to its success. If your group can develop the right culture and events to retain and develop members it will always be growing and achieving greater suc-cess.



Plan Ahead

Budgeting and fundraising are the only two ways you can en-sure that there will be money to do important events through-out the year. The key to budgeting is to plan ahead.Use your group calendar that lists all the events you are host-ing or events your group will be attending to help develop your budget.

Work with School

Find out from your Club Teacher if and how you can apply for funding from the school and/or school board. Find out about the necessary paperwork and deadlines. It is very important to submit your budget on time. Also, find out if there is a process to apply for additional funding for special events.

Project Costs

Make sure you anticipate events costing more than you ex-pected. Chances are that events will come up during the year that you did not plan, and your group will need to have money to ensure it can host these events. Check with other pro-life groups or active groups in your school or in your area to get an idea of what they generally spend per year on certain items.

Use Your Budget

Throughout the year it is very important you refer to your budget before and after every event that you host. During the first year, it may be hard initially to make a budget and stick to it, but it is important to record everything you spend so that the following year you will have a better idea of how much to budget for each event.

Example Budget

Budget & FundraisingPurpose: To plan your expenses to prepare for events in the coming year.

Fall Term

Event Description Estimated Cost_________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ _________________

Total $

Winter Term

Event Description Estimated Cost_________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ _________________

Total $

Create Your Own Budget

Printing Posters $100.00Life Fair $50.00Guest Speaker $258.00Silent No More Awareness Campaign $250.00Food for meetings $50.00_______________________________ _______Total: $708.00


Some Ideas

Paid Civvies Day

Have a paid civvies day where all the money collected goes towards a pro-life organization. You can group this with a Pro-Life Awareness Day. See event ideas on pages 9-10.

Speak at Churches

Approach the churches in your area and ask if you can speak after the Masses or services on a weekend. Give a three minute speech about the club and its planned activities. Set up the club display and hand out information afterwards. When someone donates collect their information to keep them up to date on the club.

Local Right to Life Groups

Be sure to connect with your local Right to Life group. They are typically more than happy to provide resources and fund-ing for concrete items and events. They can also usually provide the valuable training you and your club will need for becoming knowledgeable about the life issues. Ask them to come in and do a few training sessions so that your club mem-bers will be seen to “know what they’re talking about”.

Find Potential Donors

Go through your personal address book, ask your family and think of pro-lifers in your community. Contact them to see if they would be willing to help you save lives by investing in a pro-life club at your school.

Hold a Fundraising Event

Plan an event to raise money for your group such as a bake, hot dog or craft sale, car wash, candy jar contest or raffle. While these events require considerably more effort than other fundraising ideas they can double as awareness raising events on campus. As such they could be combined with an informa-tion table on a particular topic or event. More event ideas: www.fundraisingideas.org .

Thank Your Supporters

It is important to promptly thank everyone who gives you a donation. Keep donors updated with your group and invite them to events, no matter how big or small.

FundraisingYou can fundraise for two reasons:

1. To help cover your events and activities.2. Raise money to give to a pro-life organization.


Develop Your Media Contacts

Find the contact information for your school media (news-paper, radio etc.). Next, find a listing of media outlets for your area and find the individual in charge of community events and social issues to develop a contact list. Get in touch with your media contacts to let them know about your larger school events. Send them a media advisory with your contact information. You will generally have the most success with your school newspaper, local media, and pro-life or Christian media.

School Media

Your target audience is the students at your school so use the school media as much as possible. Get to know and meet personally with the editor. Ensure that the school paper has information about all of your events and has a response from your group in relation to any news stories in the local or national media.

Community and National Media

Watch your local and the national media. If the life issues are discussed this is a perfect opportunity for your club to respond.

Greater Coverage with Featured Articles

Before a major event actually happens, you may be able to receive coverage through a feature story of your main speaker. Ensure that your school and/or community paper knows all of your speaker’s accomplishments and explain the talk’s impor-tance to the school’s community.

Prepare and Send a Media Advisory

Send the advisory one month, one week, and one day before a large event to your school and/or community media. The advisory should go to local calendar editors. It should cover the basics: who, what, when, where and why.

Sending a Press Release

When a press release is needed, please contact NCLN to help you. The press release is longer and more detailed than the media advisory. It should be used in specific circumstances to have the most effect.

The Day of a Major Event

Call the media that you contacted with the advisory and press release the day before the event to remind them and ask if they are coming. Make sure there is something visual for the media to photograph, such as a fetal development display. Have the Media Coordinator or President available to answer their ques-tions or to identify key people the reporter may be interested in talking to. Give the reporter a press kit with information about your group and the event that will help them write their article. Follow up with them after the event and make sure they have all the information they need. Remember: make it easy for them to write a good article about your event.

MediaPurpose: To use the media as another avenue to get the pro-life message to your school and community.


Opposition to the Message

Is it not unusual for the pro-life message to receive some opposition. Do not be discouraged by this.

Reasons for Opposition:

If someone is upset or angry with an activity or the club in general this may indicate that they have had direct experience with abortion (themselves, their girlfriend, a sister or friend etc.). They have been hurt but have not had a chance to heal. The emotional response to the pro-life message is mis-directed, but hopefully it can be an opportunity to talk with them (one-on-one is better) and offer resources for healing (eg. Project Rachel, The Silent No More Awareness Cam-paign). Misinformation on the life issues, and especially abortion, is everywhere. Someone who opposes your message may do so because they sincerely believe the “other side” of the debate. Their intentions are sincere, however misguided. Again, peaceful, respectful dialogue is the goal and hopefully can be achieved.

Forms of Opposition

Do Not Be Discouraged

Opposition is not a bad thing. It is important to handle all opposition with confidence and always respectfully. Never let an event or activity be shut down if you have permission to be there. Always remain calm, despite how upset someone else might be. Everything that a pro-life club and individual does must be done with love and compassion.

Posters torn down or written on.Events protested in the form of students holding signs or wearing t-shirts etc. Students complain to the administration.Articles against the group in the school paper.Heated discussions at your information tables and events.

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Tips & Tricks, More Resources

From www.deveber.org:

Conceived in Rape: From Worthless to Priceless (Rebecca Kiessling’s Story)

Feminists for Life YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/FeministsForLife

Baby Steps

Lines that Divide

Demographic Winter and Demographic Bomb

Amazing Grace

Music Within

Hotel Rwanda

Bella

Movies we Recommend:

1. Women’s Health at Risk – Abortion and Informed Consent 2. A Medical Detective Story; What you Felt Before You Were Born3. Compassionate End of Life Care; For Adults with Developmental Disabilities

To order these DVDs, contact Life Cycle Bookswww.lifecyclebooks.com


Club Appeal

Your Time is Precious

Members

Online

As a High School Pro-Life Leader,

For more resources please contact Toronto Right to Life and

National Campus Life Network. Let us know about your specific needs.

Invest time and creativity into your club’s display board.Use many pictures and only necessary words (ie. Pur-pose and activities of the club). Do not clutter with too many images and words.If your budget permits, a very worthwhile investment is the Canadian version of the backboard display from Self-Evident Truth. This can be ordered without all of the American pamphlets for a reduced price. Please see selfevidenttruth.org/display.html and contact NCLN or email Self-Evident Truth at [email protected] to discuss an order.Your budget may also allow for the purchasing of “gear” unique to your club - jackets, sweaters, t-shirts or hats with your club’s logo and perhaps with your school colours and a catchy pro-life motto. This also provides a feeling of solidarity and identity among your club members.Order club promo brochures from NCLN for a profes-sional way to advertise your club.

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If you have to, focus on doing one large event well, instead of a few small events poorly.To raise funds, it is usually best to appeal to specific organizations and individuals rather than use club time and energy for a fundraising event that may not have much of a return.Focus your energy on planning events AT SCHOOL since that is where you will reach your key audience (high school students).

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Get to know each member personally.Plan socials for the members to develop friendships.Find out each member’s interests and talents – use this knowledge to give them projects and responsibilities that correspond to their personality.

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Use Facebook to your advantage BUT do not rely on it! You still need to make phone calls and have in-person meetings/socials etc. to develop the club.Try to send emails once a week, approximately the same time (e.g. Tuesday afternoons) to recap any recent meet-ings/events and give details on upcoming meetings etc.Keep two email lists – one for all members to give gen-eral info about meetings and events, the other for your active and dedicated members for more internal, specific information.Keep your emails short and to the point- use colours and other ways to highlight important info.Have a catchy title for the email.

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You Should Know Some Tips and Tricks forRunning a High School Pro-Life Club...


You can still be active during the summer months! Summer is perfect for:

Building your pro-life teamPlanning for the school yearIncreasing your knowledge on the pro-life issuesAND reaching out to your community.

A couple of things you’ll need to do before school ends:

1. Gather all contact information of club members to communicate with over the summer (email, phone, Facebook, Skype etc).

2. Tell all club members that the club will still be active in the summer.

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SUMMER, SUNSHINE & SAVING LIVES!

Team Building

Use the summertime to plan socials that will encourage friendships among your group. The more your group develops these friendships, the more comfortable they will be working together to share the pro-life message.

Pro-Life Pool Party! - consider asking everyone to bring an item (ie. diapers) that will be donated to a local preg-nancy care centre or maternity home. Include games that have fun pro-life trivia (ie. fetal development)Movie Nights - pick a movie with a pro-life theme (suggestions on page 21). Have a discussion follow-ing with some pre-planned questions to help get things going.Ice Cream Socials - meet up at a local ice cream place or all pitch in to make sundaes at someone’s home. Have a discussion topic ready dealing with the life issues.

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Planning for the Next School Year

Without school, it should be easier to get a group together to plan for the upcoming school year. The more you plan NOW means the more you are able to DO during the school year. Of course, there will always need to be some planning when classes are in, but if you can minimize some of it now, you can save some headaches later.

Does your group need a display board? If yes - create it this summr! Or, update it. Useful to have out during lunch periods to talk to your fellow students. Helpful tips on page 5.Do you want to bring in a speaker? Contact them in the summer to find out if they are available in the school year, speaking fees, etc. Want to do a poster campaign? Decide what posters you want to use now and create/print them to have ready.Planning a Life Week? Brainstorm ideas now and get as much as you can done.

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High School Pro-Life Activism: SUMMERTIME

Summer is just around the corner for your high school pro-life club. Though classes are finishing up, the abortion business is still going strong. Everyday, regardless of the season, three hundred preborn babies are killed by abortion in Canada. What does that mean for your club?


Increase Your Knowledge

There is always something new to learn about the life issues, and specifically abortion.

Search online for videos. Share on Facebook and email to the group.

Find new websites - both pro-life and pro-choice (to become familiar with arguments against your position).

Subscribe to blogs and pro-life news websites.

Create your own blog or twitter account.

Talk about abortion with family and friends (ie. through Facebook or in person) to increase your ability to articulate the position.

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Graduates in your group?

If they are heading to a campus next year make sure they contact National Campus Life Network to connect with the pro-life club at their campus. www.ncln.ca / [email protected].

Join the Student Life Link Facebook group to connect

with other high school pro-lifers just like you across the country.

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And, remember:

Reach Out to Your Community

You can’t hold events at school, but that does not stop you from reaching out to your community.

Organize a garage sale to raise money for a local pro-life organization. Hand out pro-life literature and be prepared to talk about life issues as people come by.

Consider handing out pro-life pamphlets (make sure they are up-to-date and attractive so people will look at them - Student Life Link has some material (created by National Campus Life Network): http://studentlifelink.ca/resources/print-resources/). Example: Brock Students for Life (BSFL) handed out 500 We Know Better Now resources during their Frosh Week last year. They walked around asking people “Did you get one?” Consider doing this at large public events happening in your community. ***Please note: Before moving forward with this type of activity contact the by-law enforcement office in your community to ask about handing out literature in general.

Toronto Right to Life does an annual Street Campaign where they spend a week at different high trafficked intersections handing out pro-life material.

If there is a local 40 Days for Life Campaign that happens near you, find out if they continue to pray and witness outside of abortuaries during the summer and join them.

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Staying committed & motivatedIt is easy for members of any club that takes a strong stand on what may not always be the most popular position of an issue to sometimes become discouraged. It may seem at times that many people are opposed or indifferent to the things which your club promotes and holds as important. At times like these, it is very important to remember a few things:

1) The worth and value of the cause- helping to save human lives. Often people seem to reject some thing new to them at first, but if “a seed is planted,” in other words, something you tell them makes an impression in their heart and mind, they may sort it out silently and over time begin to change their point of view.

2) The mission of a pro-life club is not to win over immediate converts to the pro-life position. These kind of conversions are often very gradual, and begin with the “planting of a seed”.

3) One of the reasons why the pro-life position is not always as popular as it should be is because it is not always well known or understood. That’s where you and your club come in. You can plant those seeds that can eventually grow into an appreciation of the value of all human life.

The information your club puts out about pregnancy centres can also help someone at your school or someone that a student at your school knows to not have an abortion. There are many benefits to having a pro-life club, some of which, like these, you may never personally see, but know that unlike a club that exists purely for fun, this is one that can make a difference in terms of life in the present and in the future, and can help change our culture into one that embraces all human life.

For Life!

Paul Klotz, Theresa GilbertExecutive Director PresidentToronto Right to Life Association National Campus Life Network



Prayer to End AbortionLord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,

And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,

Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the Resurrection of Your Son.

I am ready to do my part in ending abortion. Today I commit myself

Never to be silent, Never to be passive,

Never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,

And never to stop defending life Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,

And our nation once again becomes A nation with liberty and justice

Not just for some, but for all, Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

Reprinted with permission from Priests for Life Canada


www.allianceforlife.org




National Campus Life Network

Supporting pro-life students on university andcollege campuses across Canada.

www.ncln.ca [email protected]

Find us on Facebook and twitter.

Building a new generation of pro-life leaders.

120 Eglinton Ave E, Suite 302Toronto, ON M4P 1E2

(416) 483-7869 [email protected] www.righttolife.to

Your Pro-life Education Resource

Informing minds and saving lives

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Club Manual - Vivere · 302-120 Eglinton Ave. East. Toronto, ON M4P 1E2 416-483-7869 National Campus Life Network / [email protected] 2300 Yonge St., P.O. Box 67004 ... Student Club Manual