1. Welcome
a. Introductions and icebreakers.
i. Introduce officers.
ii. Introduce advisor.
iii. Introduce guests.
b. Icebreakers — Check out these ideas to kick off the meeting.
2. Old business
a. Receive reports from members on club projects — What has been accomplished, and what is still to be done?
b. Were there any projects on the list that were not covered at the last club meeting? What would that timetable be for this part of the year?
c. Review project assignments and make sure everyone is involved.
3. New business — happiness and sadness
a. A club officer or advisor/counselor should begin the discussion of happiness and sadness and explain why it’s important for students to pay attention to these emotions. K-Kids can address this issue and work with others in the school to make a difference.
b. View these two videos with the club:
i. For talking about feelings, view CBC Kids’ Small Talk episode on feelings.
ii. For one solution on increasing happiness, view Children Receive Mindfulness Lesson to Boost Happiness.
c. Have a brainstorming session with the club. Use these questions and activities to get started:
i. What can our K-Kids club do to make a positive difference for students in our school? Make a list of all ideas — they could be educational or fun, small or large, individual actions or a combined club effort, the K-Kids club alone or in partnership with other school clubs and community resources.
ii. Once a list is created, refer to the Awareness into Action Project List from Erika’s Lighthouse, an organization dedicated to educating and raising awareness about adolescent depression, encouraging good mental health and breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health issues, for other projects. To access this resource and other free resources, create an Erika’s Lighthouse account.
iii. For more resources on happiness and mental health awareness, explore the Erika’s Lighthouse curriculum for elementary school students.
iv. For more project and activity ideas, visit Project Happiness, a nonprofit with the mission of providing resources to help children and teens take charge of their own happiness, become more aware and emotionally resilient and develop skills to navigate life circumstances. View the elementary curriculum for activities and resources for the K-Kids club.
d. Gather all the ideas discussed and determine what the club’s focus could be in this area. The club’s plan might have several steps, but it is important to get something down as a starting point.
4. Home project
a. Refer back to open projects from earlier in the meeting — review assignments.
b. Make assignments for the new project(s) related to happiness/sadness.
c. Save time for committees to set meeting times.
5. Adjournment
a. Thank everyone for their participation, especially the guests.
b. Give details about the next meeting.
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