SAVE PROMISE CLUB TOOLKIT

Essential Elements for a Successful

SAVE Promise Club!

SAVE PROMISE CLUB TOOLKIT

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SAVE PROMISE CLUBS Educate Empower Encourage Engage

Sandy Hook Promise Mission Statement Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) is a national, nonprofit organization based in Newtown, Connecticut. SHP is led by

several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook School on

December 14, 2012. Sandy Hook Promise’s mission is to create a culture engaged in preventing shootings,

violence and other harmful acts in schools.

History of SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) In April of 1989, over 200 students from West Charlotte Senior High School

in North Carolina gathered at a party. A carload of young men from a rival

school showed up armed and looking for trouble. As teens panicked, 17-

year-old Alex Orange stepped forward. Alex, a fullback on the West

Charlotte football team, was a young man who looked out for other people.

Alex told the intruders this was no place for violence. Sadly, shots were

fired, and Alex fell to the floor. Surrounded by shaken friends and

schoolmates, Alex lost his life to gun violence.

The following week, students returned to school mourning, yet another

young life lost too soon to violence. Joining together in their grief, they

vowed that something was going to change, and change for the better! The

group formed Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE).

In 2017, SAVE and Sandy Hook Promise combined efforts to collectively expand our reach and sustain our work

on educating and empowering young people to help prevent gun violence and other forms of violence and

victimization – BEFORE it happens. Together, these organizations have over 36-years of expertise in violence

prevention and building student leadership capacity. Your SAVE Promise Club can join in the efforts of over

2,000 SAVE Promise Clubs across the country to carry on the important work and legacies of SAVE and SHP.

SAVE empowers student leaders to help shape school culture Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Clubs are helping transform school cultures and

communities across the country by teaching, modeling, and sustaining Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs

programs: Start With Hello and Say Something. Students of all grade-levels can start or join SAVE Promise

Clubs to help reduce social isolation, increase student connectedness, and help prevent school violence.

For More Information about Sandy Hook Promise and SAVE: Send us an email: [email protected]

Website: SHP SAVE Promise Club

facebook.com/NationalSAVE instagram.com/NationalSAVE

twitter.com/NationalSAVE youtube.com/NationalSAVE

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/savepromiseclub

http://www.facebook.com/NationalSAVE

http://www.instagram.com/NationalSAVE

http://www.twitter.com/NationalSAVE

http://www.youtube.com/NationalSAVE

http://nationalsave.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/alex.jpg

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Dear Students and Advisors, Thank you for being a part of a movement with SAVE Promise Clubs all over the country who are positively changing school culture and promoting inclusion and connectedness. Young leaders everywhere are making an impact and even saving lives of their peers.

In every school and community nationwide, there are young people who suffer silently because they feel left out, alone, or invisible. Those who are isolated can become victims of bullying, violence, and/or depression. Many then pull further away from society, struggle with learning, and social development and can even choose to hurt themselves or others. Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Clubs is the student leadership initiative of Sandy Hook Promise that aim to cultivate and bolster student leaders to take an active role in increasing school safety and preventing different forms of violence in school communities. Your SAVE Promise Club can be the glue that keeps your school community connected and inclusive and help these individuals before a tragedy occurs. The ideas, activities, and events contained in this Toolkit will help SAVE Promise Club student leaders and adult advisors launch, sustain, and grow SAVE Promise Clubs in schools and community organizations. The Toolkit will also help you to encourage students to “Start with Hello” and “Say Something” when they see someone alone, being victimized, or showing warning signs. Enclosed you will find resources for starting and sustaining a club, including timelines, action plans, recruitment activities, communication tools, lesson plans, and so much more. Your SAVE Promise Club can be the positive leadership your school needs to prevent all forms of violence and self-harm. Please know that we are here to support you in this important work! You can email [email protected] if you want more information, or have other ideas for strengthening the reach and impact of SAVE Promise Clubs nationwide. Grateful for all you are doing to keep your school safe, supportive, and connected. Sincerely,

Nicole Hockley Mark Barden

Co-Founder and Managing Director Co-Founder and Managing Director

Sandy Hook Promise Sandy Hook Promise


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Table of Contents

Simply click on any of the items below to jump to that section of the Toolkit!

Overview of SAVE Promise Clubs and Introductions

History and Mission of SAVE Promise Clubs

Introductory Letter from Mark Barden and Nicole Hockley

About the SAVE Promise Club Toolkit

Meet the National Youth Advisory Board

1. Part 1 – Nuts-N-Bolts for SAVE Promise Clubs: resources for launching a new

SAVE Promise Club or organizing an existing SAVE Promise Club.

In this section you will find recommended monthly themes, checklists, action plans, tips for

running meetings, and important forms that help get your SAVE Promise Club organized and

formalized. You will also meet the National Youth Advisory Board!

1.1. A Checklist for SAVE Success

1.2. New SAVE Promise Clubs – The Essentials

1.3. Sandy Hook Promise Resources List

1.4. Monthly Themes

1.4.1. New to SAVE? Year-at-a-Glance

1.5. Setting-Up Your Bylaws

1.5.1. Sample Club Bylaws

1.6. Club Member Duties and ‘Job’ Description

1.6.1. Informal Application

1.7. Important Forms

1.7.1. SAVE Student Membership Formal Application Form

1.7.2. National Youth Advisory Board Job Description and Application Form

1.7.3. Code of Conduct

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1.7.4. Parent/Guardian Letter

1.7.5. Parent/Guardian Permission Form

1.7.6. Student SAVE Commitment Form

1.8. SAVE Club Meetings

1.8.1. Sample Meeting Times

1.8.2. Establishing Meeting Norms

1.8.3. General Meeting Outline

1.8.3.1. Sample Meeting Format

1.8.4. Agenda Outline

1.8.4.1. Sample Meeting Agendas

1.9. Create a SAVE Mission Statement

1.9.1. MISSION SAVE: The 5 W’s

1.10. SAVE Action Plans

1.10.1. Big Picture Action Plans

1.10.2. Detailed Action Plans

1.10.3. SAVE Action Plan (longer version)

1.10.4. SAVE Action Plan (shorter version)

2. Part 2 – Sustaining Your SAVE Promise Club

In this section, you will find helpful tools to keep your SAVE Promise Club going strong with

suggestions for recruitment, fundraising, social media posts, trainings, and presentations all

tied to those important Start With Hello and Say Something messages! Want to measure

how your SAVE Promise Club is making an impact on the school climate and culture? Use

the simple survey also provided in this section.

2.1. Measure Your SAVE Success – School Climate Survey

2.2. SAVE Recruitment Ideas

2.2.1. Printable Recruitment Resources

2.2.2. Sample Recruitment Flyer

2.2.3. SAVE Informational Brochure

2.3. SAVE Club Fundraising Ideas

2.4. Social Media Tips: Keep It Going On Social!

2.4.1. Set Up a Private Social Page

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2.4.2. The Do’s and Don’ts of a SAVE Social Page

2.4.3. Recommended Social Posts to Align with Monthly Themes

2.5. Sample SAVE Announcements

2.6. SAVE Regional Trainings & the Annual SAVE Youth Summit

2.7. SAVE Trainings and Presentations

2.7.1. Peer Evaluation Form

3. Part 3 – Activities, Icebreakers, and Call-to-Action Weeks Looking for some fresh activities? Check-out this section for best practices and ready-to-go

icebreakers, teambuilders, and ideas for Start With Hello and Say Something Weeks.

3.1. Kick-Off SAVE with a Youth-Created Activity

3.1.1. Buddy Search Bingo

3.2. ‘Dip Your Toes Into SAVE’ Quick Activity Ideas

3.3. SAVE Icebreakers & Team Builders

3.4. Sandy Hook Promise Call To Action Weeks

3.4.1. Start With Hello

3.4.2. Say Something

3.5. Student-Created Best Practices

3.5.1. High School

3.5.2. Middle School

3.5.3. Elementary School

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4. Part 4 – Empowering Your SAVE Members by Developing Leadership Skills

In order to motivate and engage your school community in Start With Hello, Say Something,

and Advocacy events and activities, develop the leadership and communication skills of your

SAVE Promise Club members. Find tips on smart speaking, creating promotional videos,

running focus groups, and writing letters-to-editors with implications for real-world

application.

4.1. Smart Speaking Tips

4.1.1. Creating Your Own SAVE Elevator Speech

4.1.2. 10 Tips for Smart Speaking

4.2. Create a Club Promotional Video

4.2.1. Storyboard for SAVE Promo Video

4.3. Running a Focus Group

4.3.1. SAVE Focus Group Protocol

4.4. Advocacy 101: Stories and Letters to Editors

4.4.1. Writing Your Persuasive Story

4.4.2. How to Write an Effective Letter-to-the-Editor

5. Part 5 – Engaging Lesson Plans for Meetings or Peer-to-Peer Teaching These detailed lesson plans will give your SAVE Promise Club ways to practice engaging Start

With Hello and Say Something activities during meetings and then take them to the larger

school community or use them for cross-age and peer-to-peer teaching opportunities. These

lessons are also aligned to social and emotional learning(SEL) competencies and make

terrific lesson plans for advisory, Health, Social Studies, and character development classes.

5.1. Start With Hello Lesson Plans

5.1.1. Using Skype to Connect to Other SAVE Clubs

5.1.2. What’s Your Hello Style?

5.1.3. Yays and Heys!

5.1.4. It Takes Courage to Say Hello!

5.1.5. What Happens After Hello?

5.1.5.1. You said “Hello”………Now what?

5.1.5.2. Concentric Circle Questions

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5.1.5.3. What Happens After “Hello” ROLE PLAYS

5.1.5.4. “Blob” Activity

5.1.6. Wrist-Band Conversation Starters

5.2. Say Something Lesson Plans

5.2.1. The Trusted Adult

5.2.2. Spoken Word is Magical

5.2.2.1. Say Something

5.2.2.2. Spoken Word Poetry

5.2.3. Public Service Announcement: The Evan Circle Discussion

5.2.3.1. Discussion Rounds

5.2.3.2. Scenarios

5.2.4. Public Service Announcement: Point of View

6. Part 6 – Accolades and Celebrations Creating school culture change is hard work! Never forget to acknowledge, honor, and

celebrate your SAVE Promise Club accomplishments and all the members do to keep your

school community safe. Check-out a list of easy ways to give appreciation to your members.

Have another idea? Please share with [email protected] and we

will add it to the list!

6.1. Celebration Ideas

6.2. Certificate of Achievement

Share Your SAVE Promise Club success stories, videos, and pictures at:

[email protected]

Sandy Hook Promise would love to hear from you and share your best practices

with other SAVE Promise Clubs around the nation.



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What Will I Find In This Toolkit?

A Selection of ready-to-use resources for building and sustaining a

SAVE Promise Club.

There are five main components of this Toolkit:

Part 1 – Nuts-N-Bolts for SAVE:

Resources for launching a new Club or organizing an existing Club.

Part 2 – Sustaining Your SAVE Club.

Part 3 – Activities, Icebreakers, and Call-To-Action weeks.

Part 4 – Empowering SAVE Members by Developing Leadership Skills

Part 5 – Engaging Lesson Plans

Part 6 – Accolades and Celebrations

The activity plans are built to:

Educate students about the effects and

consequences of violence through

Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs

Programs.

Empower youth with knowledge and

skills to protect themselves and others

and be leaders of change.

Encourage positive peer influences and

leadership within the school and

community. Swansboro High School, North Carolina

Engage students in preventing violence,

victimization or self-harm before it happens.

Acknowledgments: Thank You to Our Advisors!

SAVE Promise Club School Advisory Committee 2019-20

Lauren Mechling, Mahoning County Career & Technical Center, School Counselor

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Why is this Toolkit an important resource for my Club? Sandy Hook Promise has a vision that all SAVE Promise Clubs will plan and launch four or more

Start With Hello and Say Something activities per-year to help all students promote school

safety and sustain what they have learned in these violence prevention programs. This guide

will provide your club with the inspiration and best practices to achieve this vision. The

resources in this toolkit are a celebration and compilation of the best practices of: SAVE

Promise Clubs for the past 30 years and Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs violence

prevention program implementation across the country. It has been vetted by youth leaders

and is a handbook for your Club for grab-and go activities and productive meeting lessons.

SAVE Promise Club student leaders are concerned about big issues and want to make a huge

impact on school safety, bullying, social isolation, and overall connectedness and inclusiveness

of the school community. How will you do this? By embarking on a SAVE-journey this year and

taking-off with the youth-centered materials in this toolkit. With persistence and repeated

reinforcement of the Start With Hello and Say Something messages, you can create and sustain

cultural change in your schools.

Steele Canyon High School SAVE Promise Club, California

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This Toolkit Has So Many Resources, Where Do I Start? This Toolkit is a compilation of activities, forms, resources, and ideas collected from the best

practices of SAVE Promise Clubs across the country and Sandy Hook Promise Know the Signs

programs as well as requests from Clubs. There is nothing that is mandated in this guide.

There are simply suggestions and possibilities. SAVE Promise Clubs focus on school safety and

reinforcing the messages of Start With Hello and Say Something year-round. The methods and

strategies that your Club implements to achieve these goals, is up to you!

Each SAVE Promise Club has its own, unique personality! Therefore, think of this guide as a

menu with many options that are:

• Flexible.

• Adaptable to your specific SAVE Promise Club’s needs.

• A guide to build your SAVE Promise Club.

• Recommendations from other SAVE Promise Clubs about what works.

• Downloadable to print.

• Meant to provide ready-to-use activities that will inspire new ideas and

activities to reinforce Start With Hello and Say Something messages.

Hunter’s Creek Middle School, North Carolina

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SAVE

National

Youth Advisory

Board and

School Advisory

Committee What is the SAVE Promise Club National Youth Advisory Board?

Each year, Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) recruits between 8 and 12 high school youth and their adult champions to serve on the national SAVE Promise Club Youth Advisory Board and School Advisory Committee. This is a competitive application and the chosen candidates, along with their adult advisors, play a key role in informing Sandy Hook Promise’s student and school engagement, represent Sandy Hook Promise at key events, and plan youth leadership events such as the highly-anticipated SAVE Youth Summit.

Purpose:

The Youth Advisory Board (YAB): A best practice for SAVE for over 20 years!

• Serves as the national voice of SAVE Promise Clubs and Sandy Hook Promise’s youth

leaders.

• Enables SAVE activities be youth-led and owned.

The Adult Advisors

• Support their YAB members.

• Provide insight and feedback on SHP programs and best practices for sustainability,

school outreach and engagement as part of the School Advisory Committee (SAC).

Take a glance at the following pages for more info on this year’s amazing Youth

Advisory Board and Adult School Advisory Committee!

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Meet the 2019-20 National SAVE Youth Advisory Board

Monzerat Angulo East Chapel Hill High School, NC

Advisor: Garner Overton Grade: Senior

Kristina Alzugaray Cutler Bay Senior High School, FL

Advisor: La-Shanda West Grade: Senior

Gus Coffey Club: Chase Collegiate School, CT

Advisor: Deanne Moore Grade: Junior

Trinity Cox Little Miami High School, OH

Advisors: Katie Hill & Carrie Brown Grade: Senior

Arriana Gross Jared‘s Heart of Success, Inc., GA

Advisor: Sharmaine Brown Grade: Sophomore

Angel-Lee Hart O.H. Platt High School, CT

Advisor: Marisa Volo Grade: Senior

http://nationalsave.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Background-16.jpg

http://nationalsave.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Kristina-Alzugaray-1.jpg

http://nationalsave.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Gus.jpg

http://nationalsave.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Arriana.jpg

http://nationalsave.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Angel-1.jpg

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Kaylie Malloy Chardon High School, OH Advisor: Joan Blackburn

Grade: Senior

Amber McCormack Mukwonago High School, WI

Advisor: Sarah Dianich & Marilyn Toshner Grade: Junior

Cedric Sawyer Miami Southridge Senior High, FL

Advisor: Victor Tejera Grade: Senior

Braelyn Willis

Steele Canyon Charter High School, CA Advisors: Jillian West &

Jennifer Serban Grade: Senior

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http://nationalsave.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Braelyn.jpg

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Thank you to the 2019-20 School Advisory Committee

for your dedication to SAVE Promise Clubs!

La-Shanda West, Cutler Bay Senior High School, Florida

Deanne Moore, Chase Collegiate School, Connecticut

Katherine Hill, Little Miami High School, Ohio

Sharmaine Brown, Jared’s Heart of Success, Georgia

Marisa Volo, Platt High School, Connecticut

Joan Blackburn, Chardon High School, Ohio

Sarah Dianich and Marilyn Toshner, Mukwonago High School, Wisconsin

Victor Tejera, Miami Southridge Senior High School, Florida

Jillian West and Jennifer Serban, Steele Canyon High School, California

Garner Overton, East Chapel High School, North Carolina

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Part 1 The Nuts-N-Bolts for All

SAVE Promise Clubs

SAVE Promise Club National Youth Advisory Board in an Action-Planning Session

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Launching Your New

SAVE Promise Club:

The Essentials Checklist! Starting a new SAVE Promise Club? Look no further than

this quick checklist to get the basics down so you can

successfully start your SAVE Promise Club:

✓ Human Resources Checklist: ❑ We have selected an Adult Advisor.

❑ We have gained permission to start the SAVE Promise Club from the

school Administrator(s) and/or the Association of Student Body (ASB).

❑ We have identified a plan for recruiting a diverse group of SAVE Promise

Club members invested in the Sandy Hook Promise mission.

✓ Paperwork: ❑ We have a signed copy of our SAVE Promise Club By-Laws.

❑ We have application forms ready for student candidates interested in

joining SAVE.

❑ We have a parent permission and information form ready-to-go to give to

students interested in joining SAVE.

❑ We have student recruitment posters ready-to-post around the school

community.

✓ Organizational Necessities: ❑ We have made an agreement with our school administration to implement

Start With Hello and Say Something activities and programs.

❑ We have a meeting time selected with permission from the Advisor.

❑ We have a meeting location.

❑ We have an agenda ready for our first meeting.

❑ We have the Sandy Hook Promise website, National SAVE Website, and

SAVE Promise Club Toolkit on-hand to share with our members.

❑ We have viewed videos and other resources available on the Sandy Hook

Promise webiste and YouTube channel to get acquainted with the SHP

vision and the incredible scope and possibilities of SAVE Promise Clubs:

SHP Website and SHP Videos.

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/

http://nationalsave.org/


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl5MxshIyRwoFNsFut6UZdA

Checklist for SAVE Promise Club Success!

Here’s a checklist to help your SAVE Promise Club zone-in on the most

important aspects of running a successful and sustainable SAVE Promise Club.

Use this ‘scorecard’ to positively reinforce all of the great work you do and to

assess where you might want to put more effort to keep the Club on-track.

Our goals

Accomplish?

Y = Yes

A = Almost

N = Not Yet

Meetings

❑ Schedule at least two meetings per month. Get creative! Afterschool or during school hours. Clubs don’t let hectic school schedules get in the way of holding meetings! Try a ‘Chat-N-Chew’ meeting during homeroom, morning, meetings, and lunch or request meetings take place during Advisory periods.

Y

A

N

Leadership Development

Engage in leadership skill-building workshops:

❑ Learn how to deliver Start With Hello and Say Something to other students and different grade-levels in train-the-trainer sessions;

❑ Practice preparing and delivering an Elevator Speech (see page 106 for further explanation on an elevator speech); and

❑ Learn how to effectively communicate for policy changes at your school and the larger community.

Y

A

N

Adult Champion

❑ Identify an Adult Champion in your school who provides support, guidance, and motivation for your SAVE Promise Club. Adult champions may be teachers, Guidance Counselors, School Resource Officers, Social Workers, coaches, and other school staff.

Y

A

N

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Activities

❑ Organize one-to-two SAVE activities per month that reinforce the Say Something and Start With Hello messages, using the monthly activity guide with theme suggestions as a resource.

❑ Activities can be as light as promoting your SAVE Promise Club over morning announcements or more involved like planning and implementing Call-to- Action weeks.

Y

A

N

Trusted Adult Training

❑ Get the adults in your school community on-board with SAVE Promise Club’s initiatives! Deliver one Trusted Adult Training annually and plan an event or special day to recognize the trusted adults in their school communities.

Y

A

N

Recruitment

❑ Hold open SAVE Promise Club recruitment drives twice annually. Make extra-efforts to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive Club community.

Y

A

N Celebrations

❑ Organize celebrations to acknowledge students, teachers, and staff throughout your school who best represent the Start With Hello and Say Something philosophy and programs. Nominate some of the student leaders and exceptional adult champions for Start With Hello and Say Something Call-To-Action week awards.

Y

A

N Check-In

❑ Review this checklist twice-per-year to assess progress and identify areas of improvement.

Y

A

N

Other:

Y

A

N

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Sandy Hook Promise Resource List Sandy Hook Promise offers so many resources to extend your SAVE Promise Club’s participation with

Start With Hello and Say Something programs.

Register for the 2019-20 School Year Start With Hello Call-to-Action Week:

September 23 – 27, 2019

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/startwithhelloweek

Register for the 2019-20 School Year Say Something Call-to-Action Week:

March 2 – 6, 2020

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/saysomethingweek

Attend the National SAVE Youth Summit: April 4, 2020, stay-tuned for

more details!

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/savepromiseclubsummit

Looking for ways to engage elementary-age students in Start With Hello

activities? Check-out the new Start With Hello Elementary Digital

program to be released September 3, 2019. There are so many

possibilities for Middle and High School SAVE Promise Clubs to use these

interactive online tools and extension activities like ‘Promise Challenges’

to do some cross-age presentations and teaching.

https://startwithhello.org/

This Toolkit references videos located on Sandy Hook Promise’s YouTube

Channel, but not nearly all the amazing Sandy Hook Promise and youth-

created videos available to you! So, check-out these YouTube links to

access a wealth of additional resources!

https://www.youtube.com/user/NationalSAVE


Also, don’t forget to check our channels for ideas: Twitter: @SandyHook, @nationalSAVE

Facebook &Instagram: @SandyHookPromise, @nationalSAVE



https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/savepromiseclubsummit

https://startwithhello.org/



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Look Ahead! Plan-Out the Year

MONTHLY THEMES Use these monthly themes to organize SAVE Promise Club activities all

year-round. Each theme gets right back to your main mission: to keep

the Start With Hello and Say Something messages going strong and at the

forefront of your school community!

Check-out the SAVE Promise Club Monthly Activity Guide!

Month Themes

August Kick-Off a Promise School

September

Start With Hello

Start With Hello Week– September 23 – 27, 2019

Sign-up here: Start With Hello Week

October Embrace Diversity

November Reach-Out and Help

December Promote Kindness and Compassion

January Encourage Changemakers

February Empathize and Include

March Say Something

Say Something Week– March 2 – 6, 2020

Sign-up here: Say Something Week

National Youth Violence Prevention Week, March 29 – April 3, 2020

April Empower Upstanders

National SAVE Youth Summit – April 4, 2020

May Mindfulness for Mental Health

June Celebrate Success



http://nationalsave.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Summit-Back-Black-With-Green-.jpg

New to SAVE? This Year-At-A-Glance Might Help! Some Quick Ideas to Help Your SAVE Club Plan the Year Ahead

Month Monthly Theme

Recommended

SWH & SS Activity

What We Can Do At Our Club Meetings This Month

What’s Coming Up Next Month?

August

Kick-off a Promise School

Host a morning ‘coffee hour’ and invite new students and staff to drop-in, say “Hello,” and learn about SAVE.

Locate a bulletin board in a high-traffic area of the school to claim all-year for SAVE. Start with a Welcome Back To School sign, info on how to join SAVE, and examples of warning signs to look for online.

Set-Up By-Laws

Create Your Club Mission Statement

Establish a Code of Conduct

Start With Hello Week, September 23 – 27th! Start organizing a promotion campaign and create your calendar of activities for the week.

Register your school on this link:

Sign Up Form for SWH Week

September

Start With Hello

Organize a student welcome committee for each morning of Start With Hello week. The welcome committee greets each student and staff member with a smile and high-five.

Decide upon a meeting time, location, and format.

Create a meeting agenda.

Practice running a meeting in a circle format.

Think of ways your Club embodies ‘diversity and why this is an important part of inclusion.’ Come-up with some ideas on how to honor and celebrate diversity of students and staff in your school.

October

Embrace Diversity

Recruit the art and foreign language teachers to get on-board and help SAVE create a school mural representing the wonderfully diverse ways to say “Hello” in the world.

Use the ‘Smart Speaking Tips’ lesson plan and practice writing and delivering elevator speeches.

Practice running meetings in a circle format to promote inclusiveness and equality amongst members.

No better way to reinforce the message of Start With Hello than by emphasizing how great it is to reach-out and help! Plan a community service project for November. Go to a local school and plan a Mix-N-Mingle with icebreakers and Start With Hello lessons like What Happens After Hello to broaden your SAVE Clubs community reach.


Month Monthly Theme

Recommended SWH & SS Activity What We Can Do At Our Club Meetings This Month

What’s Coming Up Next Month?

November

Reach-out and Help

Now that school’s been in session for a while, it’s the perfect time to reach-out to elementary school students. Present Start With Hello using the new Start With Hello digital program to an elementary classroom and teach them about SAVE.

Discovering more places and situations students experience social isolation at your school? Think about setting-up helping hand stations or SAVE volunteers at those locations and times of day.

Teach the What Happens after Hello or Hello Styles lesson plan at your meeting. Bring this lesson to other clubs and classes.

Try-out the Wrist Band Conversation starter lesson plan. Pass-out the wrist bands in the cafeteria and see students smile!

You can purchase large packs of wrist bands to write the conversation starters on and buy SAVE Promise Club wristbands to distribute to activity participants at the: SHP Store

The 14 Days of Remembrance for Sandy Hook. Create a suggestion board or box in your SAVE meeting location where students can share ideas for how to boost kindness and compassion in school next month.

December

Promote Kindness and Compassion

Host a school-wide 14 Days of Kindness challenge in memory of those lost at Sandy Hook on December 14th. Spread messages of kindness and gratitude all month using clothespins, plastic cups, sticky notes, chalk art, social media channels, and the school announcement system.

Holidays can be emotionally difficult for many people. Take the time to be extra-sensitive to warning signs and threats. Pass-out flyers with common warning signs and threats they may find during the holiday season.

Do the Yay’s and Hey’s lesson plan at your Club meeting. See how you can replicate it in some of your classes. This is an example of how easy it is and how good it feels to express gratitude.

New Year, time to recharge? Talk to your SAVE Club about how you can bring the same welcoming, Start With Hello energy from Call-to-Action week to the beginning of the New Year.

https://store.sandyhookpromise.org/collections/frontpage/products/100-save-promise-club-wristbands

Month Monthly Theme

Recommended SWH & SS Activities


What’s Coming-Up Next Month?

January

Encourage Changemakers

When you want to make changes in your school culture, developing relationships is key. Host a Start With Hello roundtable discussion with Administrators, School Resource Officers, Janitorial staff, office personnel, and other educators. Share some of your SAVE Promise Club’s initiatives and ways that you are working to build a kinder, more inclusive school community. Ask the same stakeholders to participate in Say Something week.

Dig into the SAVE Advocates lesson. Learn about ways you can use your stories to affect social change.

Use the focus group protocol to address any issues in your SAVE Promise Club the first-half of the year. January is a great moment to reflect and make some plans for improvements.

Brainstorm a list of ways that your Club can activate empathy next month.

Review the three steps of Start With Hello and define the term ‘social isolation’ as a Club. Are there any groups or individuals in your community that are consistently excluded? What can you do next month to include and embrace these groups/individuals?

The Annual SAVE Youth Summit is coming in April! Need to fundraise? Need to register and start making travel arrangements?

February

Empathize and Include

Go beyond “Hello” by inviting and including new students to your SAVE meeting. Use personalized invitations found in the Toolkit.

Connect to other schools using the Best Practice Alert – Start With Hello on Skype lesson plan.

Use one of the action planning forms to set your calendar of activities and events for the upcoming Say Something Call-to-Action week.

Say Something week is fast-approaching, March 2 – 6. Get ready to take ownership over the promotion of the Say Something message!

Register your school for Say Something Week at:

Say Something Information

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/bringsaysomething

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Month Monthly Theme

Recommended SWH & SS activities



March

Say Something

Create Trusted Adult pins or signs and deliver them to all those special adults in your school.

Host a Say Something Spoken Word poetry contest, use the Spoken Word is Magical lesson plan for ideas.

Teach the Evan Video and Point Of View Public Service Announcement lesson plans at your meetings and then discuss a plan to bring the lesson into Social Studies classes.

Remind teachers about your monthly themes and let them know about the upcoming ‘Upstander’ theme. Upstander lessons are included in the new Say Something Educator’s guide – encourage them to check-it-out!

National Youth Violence Prevention Week is on the horizon! Start telling your classmates and spreading the word on Social Media.

April Empower

Upstanders

Celebrate anyone in your school community who is always looking-out for others and making sure no one is excluded. Use your bulletin board to celebrate and honor these students, staff, and community members.

Make a list of all the Upstanders in your school and larger community. Devise a plan to honor and celebrate these everyday heroes.

The end of the school year is approaching but SAVE needs to keep the momentum going by reinforcing the Start With Hello and Say Something messages.

Month Monthly Theme

Recommended SWH & SS activities



May

Mindfulness for Mental Health

Set-up a table or station in a high-traffic area of the school and share some tips on how to reduce anxiety with Mindfulness strategies.

Create a promotional video or poster campaign that spreads the message: When We Are Mindful and Present - We Can Pay Attention More Closely to Warning Signs.

Invite a Mindfulness or Yoga instructor to your meeting. Take the time to make self-care a priority for your busy SAVE Club members.

It’s time to organize an end-of-the year celebration to acknowledge the accomplishments of your SAVE Club and members. Be creative, it could be a formal awards ceremony or a field day to get some stress relief by laughing and having fun! Please let Sandy Hook Promise know about your accomplishments and share the great news at [email protected]

June

Celebrate Success

At the end-of-the year celebration, ask all SAVE members to share their favorite Start With Hello and Say Something activities.

Make announcements to the entire school community about warning signs and threats and to identify a Trusted Adult for the summer months or use the Anonymous Reporting System to submit a tip.

Write thank you notes to the students and staff who helped your SAVE Club this year, distribute the cards in-person.

July can be a quiet month, but that doesn’t mean your SAVE Club can’t meet at a coffee shop to brainstorm the amazing activities and plans your Club wants to do next year!

Before vacation begins, schedule a time for your SAVE Club to connect over the summer and plan your fall calendar to get ahead of the game!

July Club Choice

Setting-Up Your Bylaws

What are Bylaws?

Bylaws are your Club’s ‘constitution.’ It lays out your Club’s purpose and some of the guidelines

on membership, responsibilities, and what to do when issues arise.

Why Should Our Club Have Bylaws?

The bylaws establish an identity for your Club and, combined with your Club Mission

Statement, captures the main reasons why your Club exists. It clearly states items such as Club

policies and creates any procedures for holding elections for officers, meeting attendance

requirements, and the SAVE Promise Club Advisor’s role and responsibilities.

Where can I find Sample Bylaws?

Good News! Check-out the following three pages for sample bylaws that your Club may use as

a template.

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Bylaws of the [name of club] SAVE Promise Club

ARTICLE I: NAME & PURPOSE

Section A: Name – The name of this club shall be [name of club]

Section B: National Affiliation – The [name of club] at [school/agency] will be a registered Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Club with the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation.

Section C: Purpose – The purpose of the SAVE Promise Club shall be to:

• Create a more caring and connected school community: Students want safe schools and communities and want to lead the change in these efforts. Through the SAVE Promise Club, youth will be empowered to be the leaders of change and have a positive impact with their peers, resulting in a more caring and connected school community.

• Create safer classrooms, schools and communities: Through the SAVE Promise Club, youth will organize activities and reminders that reinforce important lessons learned through Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs programs, such as Say Something and Start With Hello. Through ongoing activities and reminders, students will create a culture of looking out for one another, being upstanders and preventing violence before it happens – creating safer classrooms, schools and communities now and in the future.

ARTICLE II: MEMBERSHIP

SAVE Promise Clubs encourage and promote inclusion, so membership is open to any and all students, with no regard to academic performance or community participation.

ARTICLE III: OFFICERS

Section A: Officers – The officers shall be a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. [These are general officers, add officers specific to the needs of the club, if necessary.]

Section B: Eligibility – Officers must be [full-time students, carrying at least 1 credit, etc.]

Section C: Election – The officers shall be elected by ballot at the last meeting of the spring semester by a majority of the vote cast for that office.

Section D: Term – The officers shall serve for one year and their term of office shall begin at the start of the fall semester.

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Section E: Vacancy – If a vacancy occurs in the office of President, the Vice-President shall assume the office for the remainder of the term and vacancies in any other office shall be filled by a special election.

ARTICLE IV: DUTIES OF OFFICERS

Section A: President – it shall be the duty of the President to:

• Preside at meetings • Vote only in case of a tie • Represent the club • Appoint committee chairpersons subject to the approval of the Executive Committee • Serve as an ex-officio member of all committees except the nominating committee • Perform such other duties as ordinarily pertain to this office

Section B: Vice-President – It shall be the duty of the Vice-President to:

• Preside in the absence of the President • Serve as chairperson of the Program Committee

Section C: Secretary – It shall be the duty of the Secretary to:

• Record the minutes of all meetings • Keep a file of the club’s records • Maintain a current roster of membership • Issue notices of meetings and conduct the general correspondence of the club

Section D: Treasurer – It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to:

• Receive all funds and process Request for Payment, Deposit Slip, and Officer Signature Forms. • Keep an itemized account of all receipts and expenditures and make reports as directed

ARTICLE V: MEETINGS

Section A: Meetings – Regular meetings shall be held [weekly/biweekly/monthly] during the regular school year.

Section B: Special Meeting – Special meetings may be called by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee.

Section C: Quorum – A quorum shall consist of [example: two-thirds (2/3)] of the membership. [The number required should be small enough to ensure that a quorum will usually be present but large enough to protect the club against decisions being made by a small minority.]

Section D: Parliamentary Authority – Robert’s Rules of Orders, shall govern this club in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws.

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ARTICLE VI: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Section A: Responsibility – Management of this club shall be vested in an Executive Committee responsible to the entire membership to uphold these bylaws.

Section B: Membership – This committee shall consist of the officers as listed in Article III and the faculty advisor.

Section C: Meetings – This committee shall meet at least once between regular meetings of the club to organize and plan future activities.

ARTICLE VII: ADVISOR

Section A: Selection – there shall be a faculty/staff advisor who shall be selected each year by the membership.

Section B: Duties – The responsibilities of the faculty advisor shall be to:

• Maintain an awareness of the activities and programs sponsored by the student club. • Meet on a regular basis with the leader of the student club to discuss upcoming meetings,

long range plans, goals, and problems of the club. • Attend regular meetings, executive board meetings as often as schedule allows. • Assist in the orientation of new officers. • Explain and clarify campus policy and procedures that apply to the club. • Provide direction in parliamentary procedure, meeting facilitation, group-building, goal

setting, and program planning. • Assist the club treasurer in monitoring expenditures, fundraising activities, and corporate

sponsorship to maintain an accurate and up-to-date account ledger. • Inform club members of those factors that constitute unacceptable behavior on the part of

the club members, and the possible consequence of said behaviors.

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Join SAVE Promise Clubs! Club Member Duties and ‘Job’ Description

SAVE Promise Club student members are invested in preventing violence and committed to building an

inclusive and connected school community. Some of the primary duties and responsibilities include:

• Plan and organize Sandy Hook Promise Start With Hello and Say Something Call To Action weeks.

• Keep the Start With Hello and Say Something messages at the forefront of your school’s culture

throughout the entire school year.

• Engage other members of the school community in building a connected student body that

looks out for one another.

• Deliver presentations to other members of the school community.

• Participate in student leadership training sessions.

• Distribute information about Sandy Hook Promise programs at Parent-teacher report card

conferences, sporting events, career and club fairs, and other school functions.

• Build a community with other SAVE Promise Club members to help promote a positive school

climate.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrates respectful and responsible behavior.

• Is kind, empathetic, and inclusive.

• Maintains a positive attitude in challenging situations.

• Has built a positive rapport with teachers and peers.

• Understands the importance of the Start With Hello and Say Something principles to their daily

life in school.

• Demonstrates excellent communication skills.

• Is willing to commit to the SAVE Promise Club for at least one academic year

• Open-mindedness and sensitivity to different cultures and ethnicities.

• Ability to attend meetings and trainings.

To Apply:

All interested candidates should submit their name and contact information to: ___________________________________________________________________in room ____________________________by___________________________________________.

• Optional: All interested candidates must receive one recommendation from a teacher,

Administrator, Guidance Counselor, or other school staff.

• Optional: All interested candidates will be interviewed by the club Advisor or group of SAVE

members.

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Formal MEMBER

APPLICATION

Student Information

Full Name: Date:

Last First

Grade:

Homeroom

or Teacher

Contact:

Teacher Name Classroom #

Student

Email:

Are you a member of any other clubs? YES

NO

If yes, which

one(s)?

Do you know anyone who is a member of

SAVE already? YES

NO

If yes, who?

References

Please list one teacher reference.

Teacher

Name:

Room #:

Subject

Area:

Please complete this application by:

To:________________________________

Room:_____________________________

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Additional Questions (Optional):

Why do you want to join our SAVE Promise Club?

What are two of your favorite personality traits?

What else would you like the SAVE Promise Club selection committee to know about you?

Disclaimer and Signature

I certify that my answers are true and complete to the best of my knowledge.

Signature: Date:

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Want to Apply for the SAVE National Youth

Advisory Board & School Advisory Committee?

Here’s all the information you need:

JOB DESCRIPTION & APPLICATION PROCESS SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) and Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) recruit between 8 and 12 Youth Advisory Board Members and their Adult Champions to serve on the Youth Advisory Board and School Advisory Committee each year. This is a competitive application and the chosen candidates, along with their adult advisors, will play a key role in informing Sandy Hook Promise’s student and school engagement, as well as representing Sandy Hook Promise at key events.

This document outlines the purpose, goals, expectations and qualifications for the Youth Advisory Board and School Advisory Committee. It also includes important background information about SAVE Promise Clubs and Sandy Hook Promise that the applicant should be familiar with.

Goals:

Together, the goals of the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) and the School Advisory Committee (SAC) are to:

• Train a core group of youth and Adult Advisors in Sandy Hook Promise messaging, programs and goals

• Engage these students as the youth voice and school voice of SHP when called upon for special activities, events and requests

• Engage the students in planning activities for SAVE Promise Clubs, including Call To Action Weeks

• Inform school and educator engagement and program feedback and input • Inform SHP Programs, Call to Action Weeks and outreach, including what is working, what’s

missing and what needs improved • Ensure that SHP has a direct connection to the youth in our programs, and that SHP is

listening to their needs and goals. • Assist in the annual SAVE Youth Summit planning and provide leadership and conduct

breakout sessions at the Summit to keep the Summit youth-led and centered • Build a stronger connection to schools in our base as well as inform educator engagement

best practices and ideas YAB and Adult Advisor Application Process:

Sandy Hook Promise will select SAVE Promise Club members and their Adult Advisors for the National Youth Advisory Board (YAB). The YAB will be composed of high school students (Grades 9 – 12) from across the United States who have demonstrated leadership skills and service in their school and community through their SAVE Promise Club, as well as have experience with Sandy Hook’s Say Something and Start With Hello programs. These students and their Adult Advisors should possess a commitment and dedication to protecting the youth in their school and community and preventing gun violence and other forms of violence and self-harm BEFORE it takes place.

Creative and energetic students, along with their solution-oriented and supportive Adult Advisors are needed to create new ideas, inform youth-led sustainability best practices, help share SHP’s Call to Action Weeks and program development and implementation, and plan and attend the Annual SAVE Youth Summit. As needed, YAB members and/or their adult advisors will be asked to provide the youth voice necessary (speaking engagements, written pieces, social posts, etc.) to demonstrate Sandy Hook Promise impact and reach.

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Applying for the National YAB and SAC consists of 2 rounds of application processing. Completion of this form is required for Round One. Applicants moving to Round Two, will then be notified with additional information and phone interviews.

YAB Qualifications:

• Will be in high school (grades 9 – 12). • Must be an actively engaged member of an existing SAVE Promise Club (leadership experience in

the club preferred). • Committed to preventing violence BEFORE it happens and protecting youth in their schools and

communities and exemplify the ideals and principles of SAVE Promise Clubs in all aspects of life. • Creative, energetic, and focused on safety and violence prevention efforts through their SAVE

Promise Clubs and Sandy Hook Promise. • Gain the sponsorship/support of their Adult Advisor who is willing and able to support the YAB and

travel with the YAB member to the Summer Planning Session, Winter Planning Session and Annual SAVE Youth Summit.

Selected YAB Board Members will be required to:

• Participate in up to four conference calls throughout the year • Attend a leadership institute/summit planning session (July). • Attend a mid-year planning retreat (January– MLK weekend) • Participate in planning, speaking and presenting at the Annual SAVE Youth Summit (April) • Work independently on assignments throughout the year including answering a Question of the

Month and writing articles for the SAVE Promise Club newsletter. • Serve as the national youth voice for Sandy Hook Promise and SAVE Promise Clubs. • Assist in creating a calendar of activities for SAVE Promise Clubs. • Assist in planning and participating in national awareness activities throughout the year including

activities Say Something Week, National SAVE Day, Start With Hello Week, and National Youth Violence Prevention Week.

• Organize Say Something and Start With Hello Week activities and events within your school. • Work to strengthen your own SAVE Promise Club while working in your local area to aid other clubs

and establish new clubs. • Exemplify leadership skills and positive character traits to represent the SAVE Promise Clubs and

Sandy Hook Promise across the country. • The Adult Advisor must be willing to support their YAB member, implement and support SAVE

Promise Club activities and SHP’s Know The Signs programs and be willing to share best practices to inform SHP’s program implementation, delivery and sustainability, as well as SHP’s engagement with schools and educators.

*Airfare, meals, and lodging associated with leadership institute, midyear retreat and the Summit will be covered by Sandy Hook Promise.

If you have the energy, determination and desire to create positive change, please check the Sandy Hook Promise website for information about the May deadline for student Youth Advisory Board applications or email [email protected].

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Code of Conduct

A Code of Conduct is a contract that your SAVE Promise Club

members agree to adhere to. The Code should align to your

mission and can often mirror some of your Club’s meeting

norms. A professional Code of Conduct is an official contract, so

if you do the work to develop a Club Code, you need to be ready as a SAVE Promise Club

community to hold each other accountable for sticking to the contractual agreements. The

following guide can be used to create your code.

Our SAVE Promise Club’s mission is:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

As SAVE Promise Club members, we agree to conduct ourselves in the following ways:

Possible answers: be open-minded and tolerant of each other’s differences and opinions; reach-out and

help students who may be feeling socially isolated; be considerate and caring; be a friend to other SAVE

members; be considerate and respectful of the adult Advisor(s), school staff, and students.

As SAVE Promise Club members, we will prohibit the following activities and behaviors:

Possible answers: Any bullying or intimidation of students in the entire school community; abusive

language or any form of violence towards any students and staff; Possession of alcohol or illegal drugs.

Our SAVE Promise Club will hold each other accountable for the expected behaviors outlined in this

Code of Conduct by:

Possible Actions: elect Club officers to monitor members’ participation and behavior during SAVE

activities and events; hold restorative circles with our Club community when the contract has been

broken and come-up with solutions to mend any relationships that may have been harmed; build Code

of Conduct check-ins into the meeting agendas.

If any members fail to comply to the Code of Conduct, (the following actions will happen):

Possible Actions: The student will meet with the Advisor to review the Code of Conduct; the student will

be included in a restorative circle with the entire Club community; the parent/guardian will be informed

of the student’s non-compliance with the Code of Conduct; the student will be referred to

Administration for serious disciplinary infractions.

I have read the SAVE Promise Club’s Code of Conduct. I agree to abide by the rules described above and

understand that I may be removed as a participant if I repeatedly violate the agreement.

Signature:___________________________________________________ Date:____________________

Printed First

and Last Name:______________________________________________________________________

Advisor Signature: ____________________________________________________________________

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Dear Parents and Guardians:

Your child has expressed an interest in joining the SAVE Promise Club at ________________________

School. SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) Promise Clubs are a place for young people across

the country to show their leadership, creativity and passion for protecting their friends, schools and

communities from violence BEFORE it happens. SAVE Promise Clubs are an initiative of Sandy Hook

Promise and help to fulfill the mission of creating a culture engaged in preventing shootings, violence,

and other harmful acts in schools. There are over 2,000 SAVE Promise Clubs across the country and our

school is one of them! You can read more about SAVE and Sandy Hook Promise on the websites: Sandy

Hook Promise and SAVE Promise Clubs.

Students want safe schools and communities and are looking for ways to lead the change in these

efforts. Through SAVE Promise Clubs, youth are empowered to be the leaders of change and have

greater impact with their peer groups than adults to create a more caring and connected community.

Youth organize activities, presentations, and events that reinforce the important lessons learned

through Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs programs, namely Start With Hello and Say Something.

Through ongoing meetings and activities, students create a culture of looking out for one another, being

upstanders, and preventing violence.

By joining the SAVE Promise Club, your child will participate in one-to-two meetings per month,

attend special events during school hours, and have the option to conduct peer trainings and organize

activities to help keep their school and community safe.

Adult Advisor(s) Name(s) and contact information:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Meeting Days, Location, and Times:

______________________________________________________________________________

Please share your support of your child’s participation in our SAVE Promise Club by signing the

permission form on the back of this letter and ask your child to return it to the SAVE Promise Club Adult

Advisor. Thank you for supporting this important student leadership program and recognizing the

importance SAVE Promise Clubs have in improving school climate.

Sincerely,

[Principal]

[School Name]



http://nationalsave.org/

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Parent/Guardian Permission Form

SAVE Promise Club

Please return this permission form to

_______________________________________________________________ (Adult Advisor’s Name) by

___________________________________________________ (Date).

I give permission for my child___________________________________________________to

participate in the SAVE Promise Club at ________________________________________School.

I understand that my child will participate in both the student-led SAVE Promise Club in-school

and afterschool activities and events to help lead the change in creating safe schools and

communities by preventing violence BEFORE it happens.

Today’s Date:___________________________

Parent

Name:________________________________________________________________________

Parent

Signature:_____________________________________________________________________

Parent contact info

Cell Phone:_____________________________________________________________________

E-mail Address:________________________________________________________________

Other important information the SAVE Club Advisor should know about your child:

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Student SAVE Commitment Form

I pledge to participate in SAVE Promise Club meetings, activities, and events

throughout the course of the school year. I also agree to take the Sandy Hook

Promise Start With Hello and Say Something pledges to help create a safer,

healthier school:

Start With Hello Pledge

1. See someone alone.

2. Reach out and help.

3. Start with “Hello.”

Say Something Pledge

1. Look for warning signs and threats.

2. Act immediately, take it seriously.

3. Say something.

By signing this form, I am expressing my commitment to doing my part to build

and sustain a safe, inclusive, and connected school community.

Student Name:_____________________________________________________

Student Signature:__________________________________________________

Student E-mail Address:______________________________________________

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SAVE Promise Club Meetings

SAVE Promise Clubs get creative about meeting times! Therefore, this toolkit

contains meeting-time options based on the best practices and feedback from

SAVE Promise Clubs across the country. Meetings take place in different formats:

• Use the provided agenda meeting outlines - either the longer or shorter version - for a one hour meeting.

• Do one of the SAVE Promise Club activities in section II of the Toolkit as your afterschool meeting activity.

Before or Afterschool

• Get your SAVE Promise Club members together to meet for a lunch bunch, chat-n-chew, or morning 'coffee' break.

• If time is short, run your meeting using one section of the Start With Hello or Say Something lesson plans, use the quick student connectors/icebreakers as your meeting activity, or focus on reviewing successes and planning future activities using #6 and #7 on the general meeting outline.

During School Hours

• Integrate your SAVE Promise Club into an existing course or class period during the day. Some Clubs hold meetings in Advisory, Homeroom, or Career and College Readiness classes.

• Talk to Health and Social Studies teachers and Guidance Counselors about teaching the lesson plans in this guide as part of their course offerings. Use this as an opportunity to recruit SAVE Promise Club members from their classes.

As a stand-alone class

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It’s Meeting Time!

Regularly scheduled meetings will help sustain your SAVE Promise Club.

Sandy Hook Promise recommends the following tips to make your meetings

productive and successful!

✓ Set regular meeting times twice-monthly.

✓ Set an agenda for each meeting that includes time to celebrate past

accomplishments and plan future activities.

✓ Create a permanent virtual space and physical space in your building to post meeting

announcements and Club updates.

✓ Run meetings in a circle format.

✓ Keep your SAVE Promise Club Advisor up-to-date on all meeting times, locations, and

agenda items.

Tips for Meeting Times and Locations

Everyone in school always seems so busy! How can we find two times to meet each month?

One best practice is to find time within the school day to have at least one of the monthly

meetings. This gives more students the opportunity to participate and creates a more inclusive

club community. Some SAVE Promise Clubs have been innovative when it comes to getting

permission from the School Administrator to schedule meetings during the school day.

Suggested meeting activities are provided as ‘dip your toes’ quick 10 – 15 minutes or as full a

lesson plan format so that a student leader or adult champion can teach a full lesson during the

meeting time, or, select the parts of the lesson that will best meet the needs of your Club.

Think about meeting:

✓ During Advisory periods.

✓ During Homeroom.

✓ During a lunch wave for a ‘working lunch.’ Give your meeting a fun name like Chat-N-

Chew, Lunch and Learn, or Sip-N-Share.

✓ During the first half-hour or last half-hour of school on a Friday or Monday.

✓ In a social studies or health class.

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Where are we going to have our meetings?

If possible, lock-in a permanent location for your in-person meetings so that there is little

confusion when it comes to meeting time. Of course, in some schools, this isn’t possible. Here

are some suggestions for meeting locations when you need to get creative.

✓ Your Advisor’s Classroom.

✓ A space in the school cafeteria.

✓ A courtyard.

✓ The school’s peace room, Zen room, or conflict mediation space if there is one.

✓ A stage in the school auditorium.

✓ A conference room in an Administrator’s office.

✓ A space in the gym.

Circle-Up for Meetings!

It’s all about creating an inclusive community!

The SAVE Promise Club meeting is best run in a circle format so that everyone has an

opportunity to have a voice and is an equal member of the SAVE Promise Club community.

Circles have been used throughout history in different situations from celebrating rites of

passage to making democratic decisions.

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MEETING NORMS

Norms are guidelines to help keep your meetings on-track and accomplish goals.

They also help establish a safe space where everyone feels welcome and

respected. There are tons of ways to create norms, and the most important part

is that they are 100% created by and agreed upon by members.

Sample Norms:

1. Come to SAVE Promise Clubs with an open mind and open heart.

2. Use a talking piece or other item to pass to the next person to allow for

one-voice at-a-time.

3. Check-in with each other to make sure everyone feels safe.

4. Actively listen to other members’ points-of-view.

5. Celebrate accomplishments of your SAVE Promise Club.

Club Spotlight

O.H. Platt Technical High School in Meriden, CT

uses the ROPES acronym as a springboard for

setting meeting circle norms.

The Platt High School SAVE Promise Club student

leaders ask Club members to share-out a guideline

for running meetings using each of the letters in

R-O-P-E-S.

For example:

R = Respect one another’s opinions.

O = Open your heart.

P = Pay attention when other members are speaking.

E = Engage in discussions and share your ideas.

S = Smile and have fun!

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General Meeting Outline

DATE:___________________________________________TIME:______________________

Some things to consider as you plan your meetings:

❑ How many minutes do we have today?

❑ Can we accomplish our tasks in one meeting or do we need additional time?

❑ Does our Advisor need to make any announcements?

❑ Did we run the agenda and meeting topics by our members and/or Advisor for

approval?

1. Mindful Moment (1 minute)

a. Ask members to take a deep breath.

b. Try to bring yourself to this present moment.

c. Personal Check-in with your mind, body, and emotions.

d. Be as present as possible – enjoy the time you will have with your fellow SAVE

Club members.

2. Opening (2 minutes)

a. Ask one member to review the agenda.

b. Introduce the meeting’s topic and focus area.

c. Good Morning/Afternoon. My name is ____________________ and I will be

facilitating our meeting today. As a reminder, the SAVE Promise Club THEME

this month is _________________________________.

3. Circle Round and Student Connector (10 minutes): Using the talking piece, conduct one

round with a prompt to establish a sense of community and make sure new members

are introduced to the group.

a. Good Morning/Afternoon SAVE Promise Club! This week I PROMISE

TO:__________________.

b. Hello! My name is ________________ and I am feeling ___________________

today.

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c. Hi! I am _____________________. A ROSE (a highlight, positive thing that

happened) this week has been _____________________________ and a THORN

(a lowlight, negative thing that happened) has

been________________________________.

4. SAVE Promise Club Announcements

5. Review

a. Review the following checklist as a group:

❑ Start With Hello: Have all our members been trained in Start

With Hello? If no, when can the train-the-trainer session be scheduled?

❑ Say Something: Have all our members been trained in Say

Something? If no, when can the train-the-trainer session be scheduled?

❑ Elevator Speeches: Are all our members equipped to deliver an

elevator speech and effectively communicate our SAVE Promise Club

mission (aligned to the Sandy Hook Promise mission)? If no, can we

spend time next meeting modelling and practicing elevator speeches?

6. Looking Ahead

a. How have we promoted the monthly theme in our school?

b. What activities do we have coming up this week/month?

c. Are we spreading the message on social media?

d. Are we capturing pictures and videos?

7. Work Session

a. Which tasks can we get done in the time we have today?

b. Which tasks need to be delegated?

8. Celebrations and Acknowledgements

a. Gratitude – how can we thank each other for the work we have done?

b. What work should we celebrate this meeting?

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SAVE Promise Club Meeting

AGENDA OUTLINE

Date:______________________________Facilitator(s):_____________________________________

Amount of Time for Our Meeting today:________________________________

Jot your notes down to make sure you stay on-task and on-time for your meetings!

1. Welcome and Introductions

2. Student Connector: YAY’s! and HEY’s!

a. What should our Club celebrate today?

b. Who and what are we grateful for when it comes to our Club’s accomplishments and

members?

3. Advisor Announcements

4. Accomplishments

5. Looking Ahead

a. What activities do we have coming-up?

b. Who is responsible for each activity?

c. What resources do we need to accomplish our goals for the activity?

i. Adult support?

ii. Supplies?

iii. Human resources?

iv. Community resources?

6. Leadership Skills Check-In:

a. What are our strengths?

b. What skills do we need to work on?

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MISSION SAVE!

Create Your SAVE Promise Club Mission Statement

Creating a mission statement unique to your own SAVE Promise Club is a fantastic meeting

agenda item. Missions are clear, concise statements that sum-up what your SAVE Promise Club

is all about and driven to do. It’s the statement that captures the heart of your SAVE Promise

Club and provides a snapshot of what you’re all about. The mission statement isn’t something

that is typically written in one meeting and may be revisited and revised throughout the school

year. A typical mission is a succinct 1 – 2 sentences, but we’ve provided two possible graphic

organizers for creating your mission that are great ways to accomplish the goal of stating the

purpose and direction of your activities and events. Go mission SAVE!

Here’s a recommended structure for creating the mission statement with all members:

1. Spend one meeting brainstorming ideas for your mission and writing a first draft or a

couple of drafts.

2. Spend another meeting analyzing the draft and getting a version that gains approval

from all Club members.

3. Email the first version of them mission statement to all members or post it on a

platform such as Google Classroom for comments and recommended revisions.

4. Build in a minute or two on your agenda at the start of each meeting to review and

revisit the mission statement.

5. Post your mission statement in a highly visible place for the school community to see.

What is a mission statement?

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a mission statement is something that ‘states the

purpose or goal of a business or organization.’

Think of your Club as its very own organization. As a group, answer the questions in a

brainstorm format. If possible, write the answers on flip-chart paper or a white board.

• What special qualities does our SAVE Promise Club have?

• What core values does our SAVE Promise Club want to embody?

o Sample values: inclusiveness, trustworthiness, dependability, commitment,

open-mindedness, compassion, leadership, integrity, diversity, kindness,

acceptance.

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• As a SAVE Promise Club, what do we want to accomplish this year?

• What do we want to do to help our school community?

• How do we stand-apart and stand-out from other clubs in our school?

Elect a SAVE Promise Club member to review the answers to the above questions and start

circling any words, phrases, or values that are repeated.

Start building your mission statement using the mission example and one of the worksheets

provided: Mission SAVE Using the 4 E’s or the 5 W’s.

Sample SAVE Promise Club Mission: SAVE empowers a diverse group of student leaders to prevent violence in our school community and build connectedness. We do this by promoting, modelling, and reinforcing the essential principles of Start With Hello and Say Something: to reduce social isolation and “say something” when you see or find warning signs and threats.

Mission SAVE: Using the 4 E’s

As a ___________________________________ (name of school) SAVE Promise Club,

we strive to:

Educate

We will educate our members and school community to:

Empower

We empower members of our SAVE Promise Club and school community by/to:

Encourage

We will encourage each other to:

Engage

We will do our best to engage a wide and diverse audience to:

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MISSION SAVE: The 5 W’s (Who, What, Where, When, Why & How)

Our SAVE Mission Statement:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

What is our cause?

(Who, what, where do we serve?)

What do we do to help our school community?

What is our impact? What will we want to

achieve/accomplish?

What makes our Club unique?

Core Values

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SAVE Promise Club Student Leaders Have

Superpowers when it comes to

Action Planning! Each year, your SAVE Promise Club will create an action

plan to help stay laser-focused on major goals. Consider

starting with the ‘Big Picture Action Plan’ on pages 51 &

52 and then use a detailed activity plan for:

✓ A major event, such as Start With Hello Week that has many moving parts

and details to consider.

✓ An ongoing recruitment drive to boost SAVE Promise Club membership.

✓ A school-wide assembly-style training for the Say Something program.

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Our ‘Big Picture’ Action Plan

Take a meeting in the beginning of the school year to fill in this table with your

Club’s major activities and events for the year. As you work on this plan, refer to the Monthly Activity Guide and be sure to tie each

main activity back to the Start With Hello or Say Something messages!

Month Monthly Theme One Main Activity Trainings/Events/Presentation Other

August

Kick-off a

Promise School

September

Start With Hello

October

Embrace Diversity

November

Reach Out and Help!

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Month Monthly Theme One Main Activity Trainings/Events/Presentation Other January

Encourage Changemakers

February

Empathize & Include

March

Say Something

April

Empower Upstanders

May

Mindfulness for Mental Health

June

Celebrating Success

July Club Choice:

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DETAILED ACTIVITY ACTION PLAN

Your SAVE Promise Club will be organizing activities, events, presentations, and Call-to-Action

weeks. The school week is busy, and you have many other responsibilities in your life!

Therefore, nicely detailed, written-down action plans help your members divide tasks and set-

up a system of accountability to make sure the tasks get done on-time and your SAVE Promise

Club activities are a huge success!

What can you use an action plan for?

1. An activity - a compliment drive or Chalk Walk for Start With Hello Week.

2. A training - a Say Something training facilitated by SAVE Promise Club members to other

classes in their school community or a Trusted Adult training delivered by SAVE Promise

Clubs to school staff.

3. An event - a moment of silence, walk-a-thon, pep rally,

4. A presentation – an assembly-style Start With Hello or Say Something presentation or a

panel of guest speakers from the community to speak about violence prevention.

5. A field trip – a visit to the state capitol building, trip to the annual SAVE Promise Club

Youth Summit, or attendance at a SAVE Regional Training.

While so many students use their phone calendars and there are project planning Apps to help

you get your action planning going, an old-fashioned action plan written down in a highly visible

place for your SAVE Promise Club is a definite tip for success! Of course, if a member wants to

use the Remind App or other technology to keep other members accountable, go for it! Use

this guide to help with the planning process. A long and short-version of an action plan

template is provided. Some SAVE Promise Clubs use a white board that can be erased,

amended, and referred to continually.

When it comes to differentiating the level of autonomy and independence for SAVE Promise

Club action planning, there are some general guidelines:

• High School – Either the long-version or short-version action plan can be completed

independently by student leaders in grades 9 – 12. The primary role of the advisor is to

ensure students gain permission from any important stakeholders for the activity and

the project moves along. Advisors can oversee the action planning process so that

students don’t get stuck and spend too much time on minor details.

• Middle School – The shorter-version action plan can be filled out by SAVE Promise Club

members grades 6 – 8 with guidance and support from the advisor.

• Elementary School – The modified shorter-version action plan for grades 3 – 5 is

provided. The SAVE Promise Club Advisor can fill in the action plan with input from the

student leaders.

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SAVE Promise Club Action Plan (longer version)

1. Name of

a. Activity:__________________________________________________________

b. Training:_________________________________________________________

c. Event:___________________________________________________________

d. Presentation:______________________________________________________

e. Field Trip:_________________________________________________________

2. SAVE Promise Club Point Persons for this Activity:

a. Student Name:_____________________________________________________

b. Student Name:_____________________________________________________

c. Student Name:_____________________________________________________

d. Student Name:_____________________________________________________

3. What are the end goals for this activity? What do we hope to accomplish?

a. Educate other students about:

b. Empower our SAVE Promise Club to:

c. Encourage our school community to:

d. Engage a large group of students to:

e. Other:

4. Time frame – When is this activity happening?

a. We will start this activity on__________________________________________.

b. We will finish this activity on_________________________________________.

c. Important Dates:___________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

5. Who are the adult champions that we will need to speak to about this activity?

a. Adult Champion:______________________________________

i. Which member(s) will contact this individual?___________

ii. When will the member(s) contact this individual?____________

iii. What do we need from this contact?________________________

b. Adult Champion:______________________________________

i. Which Club member(s) will contact this individual?___________

ii. When will the member(s) contact this individual?____________

iii. What do we need from this contact?________________________

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6. Promoting, Messaging, and Advertising – how we get the word out!

Social Media

School Broadcasting system

Morning/Afternoon announcements

Table Displays

Posters

7. What are some obstacles, roadblocks, or challenges that we anticipate we might

encounter while planning and implementing this activity?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

8. Assess the level of work for this activity. After reviewing our action plan, this activity is

a:

Heavy Lift (many hours, lots of people power, extra meetings needed).

Medium Lift (A couple of hours in addition to our meetings, most members need

to be involved, work can be completed during school hours for the most part).

Light Lift (we can get most of the preparation done during meetings and will not

need all SAVE Promise Club members working on this project at all times).

9. Other Considerations

a. What else do we need to think about for this activity?

b. What else do we need to include in our action plan for this specific activity?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

10. We will know this project/activity/event was a SUCCESS when:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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SAVE Promise Club Action Plan (shorter version)

What? What is the activity or event?

What is the GOAL of our activity/event/or task? What do we want to

accomplish?

What tasks do we need to get done to make sure this activity or event is

a success?

Who? Who is going to benefit from this activity/event/or task?

Which SAVE Promise Club members are involved in getting the tasks

done?

Who do we need to get permission from for this activity/event?

How? How are we going to make sure the tasks get completed so our activity or

event is a success?

How will we know our activity is a success?

When? When do tasks need to be completed?

What is our final deadline?

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Part 2

Sustaining Your SAVE

Promise Club

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Measure Your SAVE Success How will you know if your SAVE Promise Club’s efforts are making an impact on your school

culture and climate? Sure, students and adults will tell you they enjoyed a presentation your

Club delivered, really loved the Chalk Walk you created for a Call-to-Action week and couldn’t

wait to participate in Hey Day! However, collectively, your SAVE Promise Club should track the

big shifts and positive contributions you are making on your entire school community. There are

many ways to accomplish this, but one simple way is to complete a survey a few times per year

to measure growth and impact over-time.

SAVE Promise Club mural, Walter Panas High School, Courtland Manor, New York

What is a SAVE Promise Club school climate survey? It is a data tool that SAVE Promise Club

members can use to do an assessment of what’s happening with their school when it comes to

safety, inclusiveness, and the students’ and adults’ acceptance and use of the Start With Hello

and Say Something messages that the SAVE Club works so hard to teach and reinforce.

If your school uses Google Chromebooks and Google Apps for Education, you can put this survey

on a Google Form for SAVE Promise Club members to easily access on a Club’s Google Classroom

page. Or, you can create a free Wufoo account and copy the survey questions on the next page

into an online version.

The purpose of this survey is to get a baseline understanding of how your Club and school

community is doing in these important areas mentioned above and measure your growth and

progress throughout the school year. Encourage members to be honest in their feedback. Tally

and aggregate the responses at the following points of the school year. Share results with school

Administration and the student population.

• Baseline Survey: Start of the school year or when your SAVE Promise Club forms.

• Mid-Point Survey: Halfway point, December or January

• End-of-the-Year Review: May or one-month from the end of the school-year.

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SAVE Member School Climate Survey I witness social isolation in my school.

❑ Very Frequently

❑ Frequently

❑ Occasionally

❑ Rarely

❑ Never

I have experienced being socially isolated in my school.

❑ Very Frequently

❑ Frequently

❑ Occasionally

❑ Rarely

❑ Never

Students feel comfortable saying “Hello” to new students or classmates they don’t know.

❑ Almost Always True

❑ Usually True

❑ Occasionally True

❑ Usually Not True

❑ Not True At All

Students look out for one another.


❑ Usually True



❑ Not True At All

I personally know the warning signs of someone who is at-risk of harming themselves or others.

❑ Strongly Agree

❑ Agree

❑ Undecided

❑ Disagree

❑ Strongly Disagree

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Students know what warning signs to look for when it comes to someone at-risk of harming themselves

or others.


❑ Usually True



❑ Not True At All

I would describe my school as being a connected and inclusive community.

❑ Strongly Agree

❑ Agree

❑ Undecided

❑ Disagree


Our SAVE Club reinforces and repeats the three steps of the Start With Hello program: See Someone

Alone, Reach-Out and Help, and Start With Hello.

❑ Strongly Agree

❑ Agree

❑ Undecided

❑ Disagree


Our SAVE Club teaches the school community about the Say Something steps: Look for Warning Signs,

Act Immediately, and Say Something.

❑ Strongly Agree

❑ Agree

❑ Undecided

❑ Disagree


Our SAVE Club’s efforts have improved the connectedness of our school community.

❑ Strongly Agree

❑ Agree

❑ Undecided

❑ Disagree


I believe our SAVE Club is starting a social movement.

❑ Strongly Agree

❑ Agree

❑ Undecided

❑ Disagree


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SAVE Recruitment Ideas Whether you run a stand-alone SAVE Promise Club, or, you have decided to embed SAVE into an existing Club at your school, ongoing recruitment is a guaranteed way to get your Start With Hello and Say Something messages across to a wider audience that crosses those visible and invisible boundaries that are often created between grade-levels, academic programs, cultural groups, gender, and sports teams as a few examples. Recruiting a diverse SAVE membership mirrors what your SAVE Promise Club is aiming for across the school community – inclusiveness and connectedness!

Peer Teaching: High School SAVE Promise Club student leaders visit local middle schools or middle school students visit local elementary schools to do some pump-ups about the benefits of joining SAVE and share info about how to start SAVE Clubs in their own schools.

Set-up an Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook page or use Snapchat filters for Call-to-Action weeks to build enthusiasm and momentum about your SAVE Promise Club’s activities. Clubs have informed Sandy Hook Promise that Insta accounts are easier for students to manage and have multiple page admins versus the other channels. Don’t forget to link the SAVE Promise Club website and any Social Media outlets to your school’s main website page. Refer to Pages 68 - 77 for this extensive ‘how to’ guide with recommended posts and logos available to SAVE Promise Clubs.

Hold a membership drive in the school cafeteria or at community events. Posters, signs, and old-fashioned loudspeaker announcements work well for informing your school community they should join the amazing SAVE Promise Club! Set-up info tables at sporting events and tailgate parties, anywhere that draws a big crowd of members of the school community. Some SAVE Promise Clubs use club fairs and spring flings for incoming Freshman as opportunities to advertise and bring in new members.

Ask every member to bring-a-friend to a special SAVE meeting. In the fall ask every member to Adopt-A-Freshman where current club members find a freshman and invite them to a meeting and help mentor that student throughout the year through SAVE.

Ask teachers if SAVE Promise Club members can visit their classes on a certain day each month to inform students about SAVE, provide info on how to join, and share-out all the spectacular activities SAVE Clubs organize! Ask other clubs, sports, and activity-advisors as well as homeroom and advisory teachers from across grade-levels to recommend new SAVE Promise Club members.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17781457/how-do-i-do-that-insert-image-in-code








https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/







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Printable Recruitment Resources

Print the following invitation cards, recruitment flyer, and brochure to distribute

in homerooms, during lunch waves, or at school-wide activity fairs and

assemblies. Tailor each flyer to best meet the needs of your Club. Remember,

they can be printed in color, black and white, or recreated by a SAVE Promise Club

member with artistic talents!

The personalized touch of writing in individual SAVE Promise Club members’

names and RSVP contact info on the invitation card is a nice way to reach-out to a

lot of new people in your school and show that SAVE Promise Clubs are an

inclusive and welcoming SAVE Promise Club community.

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You are Invited!

Join Us to Find Out What All the Excitement is About!

Please accept this personal invitation from SAVE Promise Club member ___________________________________________________________

to join us for a social gathering to learn more about the ways our Club is working together to improve school safety!

When:__________________________________________________

Where:_________________________________________________

RSVP to:________________________________________________

You are Invited!

Join Us to Find Out What All the Excitement is About!

Please accept this personal invitation from SAVE Promise Club member ___________________________________________________________

to join us for a social gathering to learn more about the ways our Club is working together to improve school safety!

When:__________________________________________________

Where:_________________________________________________

RSVP to:________________________________________________

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MAKE THE PROMISE! Want to empower, educate, and engage others about

school safety & violence prevention?

Interested in Helping Our School Community be

More Connected and Inclusive?

Join____________________________________ School’s

For More Information!

Contact Name:_____________________________________________

Contact Info: ____________________________________________

Next Meeting Dates: ________________________________________

________________________________________

Meeting Location: ________________________________________

What Else You Should Know:

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

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PRINT A PDF of THIS BROCHURE: SAVE Promise Club Brochure

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/promise/pages/1983/attachments/original/1567094563/SAVE_Brochure_5-2019_%28002%29.pdf?1567094563

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Print a PDF of this brochure: SAVE Promise Club Brochure

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/promise/pages/1983/attachments/original/1567094563/SAVE_Brochure_5-2019_%28002%29.pdf?1567094563

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SAVE Fundraising Ideas Looking for some ways to raise money so that your SAVE Promise Club can buy SAVE t-shirts,

travel to the annual SAVE Summit or take a field trip to the State Capitol building to talk with

your elected official about violence prevention legislation? Take some tips from other SAVE

Promise Clubs to launch your fundraising campaign.

Have a creative SAVE Promise Club-fundraising idea?

Share with us at [email protected]! Invite students to wear SAVE Promise Club Colors (green, orange, purple and

teal blue) for a $1.00 as an alternative to uniforms on a special day during Say

Something and Start With Hello weeks. If your school doesn’t enforce uniforms,

host a SAVE-spirit day and ask students to wear the colors, sell tee-shirts and

bracelets on the festive day. You can make your own or purchase them at the

Sandy Hook Promise Store

Host a movie screening, all proceeds going to your SAVE Promise Club. Select

films that represent kindness, inclusiveness, and acceptance. Movies with a pro-

social message include: Wonder, Girl Rising (Documentary), and Remember the

Titans.

Hold a concert, talent show, or poetry slam for a cause. Use one of the monthly

themes as the focus for the musical performance or spoken word. Host a SAVE-

a-Thon dance party. Charge a small admission of $3.00 - $5.00 and run a

concession stand.

Organize a sporting event or competition. Teams or individual players pay a small

entry fee. Consider planning a walk-a-thon for National Youth Violence

Prevention Week or a Be Kind 5K. One school holds a Say Something softball

game. Charge admissions for entry.

Cupcakes for a cause, Say Something pie-eating contests, and decorating donuts

for Start With Hello week are fun and easy ways for your Club to promote Call-to-

Action weeks while raising some funds for Club necessities. Candy grams are also

a huge hit – sell the personalized notes of kindness and compassion attached to

Lifesavers candies for $1.00 and have members hand-deliver the notes during

homeroom.

https://store.sandyhookpromise.org/

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Keep it Going on

Social Social platforms for checking-out

SAVE Promise Clubs and ideas for

setting-up your own SAVE

Promise Club Social page.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NationalSAVE/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalsave/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nationalsave?lang=en

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nationalsave/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/NationalSAVE

https://www.facebook.com/NationalSAVE/

https://www.instagram.com/nationalsave/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/nationalsave?lang=en

https://www.pinterest.com/nationalsave/


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2291598857559101&set=pcb.2328087030588011&type=3&theater&ifg=1

69


SAVE Promise Club Leaders: Want an Effective Way to Communicate

with Other Club Members and Your School?

Set-Up a Private Social Media Page

Consider starting a private Instagram Account for your SAVE Promise Club. Before you do so,

make sure you gain permission from your Club Advisor. You can use this to spread the word

about your meeting times, events such as Call-To-Action weeks, and to help Sandy Hook

Promise and National SAVE Promise Clubs see what you’re doing and share on their own

networks. For some examples, check-out these SAVE Promise Clubs from across the country:

Columbia High School, Mississippi

@CHSSAVEPromiseClub

https://www.instagram.com/chssavepromiseclub/?hl=en

Tuscola High School, Waynesville, North Carolina

@TuscolaSAVE https://www.instagram.com/tuscolasave/?hl=en

Swansboro High School, North Carolina

@S.A.V.E_SW https://www.instagram.com/s.a.v.e_sw/?hl=en

Chapel Hill High School, North Carolina

@CHHS.SAVE https://www.instagram.com/chhs.save/?hl=en

Jack Britt High School, North Carolina

@JBHS.SAVE_PROMISE https://www.instagram.com/jbhs.save_promise/?hl=en

North Broward Preparatory High School, Florida

@NBSAVEPROMISE https://www.instagram.com/nbsavepromise/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/chssavepromiseclub/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/tuscolasave/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/s.a.v.e_sw/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/chhs.save/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/jbhs.save_promise/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/nbsavepromise/?hl=en

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The Do’s and Don’ts for A SAVE Promise Club Social Page

Do’s

✓ Post stories during events so you are doing live updates.

✓ Use fun stickers!

✓ Keep updates school appropriate, check with your Advisor if you are unclear about the restrictions.

✓ Tag Sandy Hook Promise and National Save – so we can share, too! Twitter: @SandyHook, Instagram: @sandyhookpromise Twitter & Instagram: @nationalSAVE

Don’ts

✓ Don’t use ‘gun control’ term - instead, use ‘gun

safety’ and gun violence prevention terminology.

✓ Don’t feed the ‘trolls.’ Ignore/Delete negative or

bullying comments.

MDCPSProjectPrevent @MDCPSPPrevent Mar 1 More Recognizing the almighty #SpartanEmpire for

responding to @sandyhook ‘s #CallToAction

w/ in-class training & school-wide challenges –

special shout-out to #EthicsLeadership students &

@SAccompanies for taking on the task to challenge peers to

#SeeSomethingSaySomething #WOKEYouth –

at Miami Southridge Senior Highschool

https://twitter.com/MDCPSPPrevent

https://twitter.com/MDCPSPPrevent/status/1101636863687839745

https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpartanEmpire?src=hash

https://twitter.com/sandyhook

https://twitter.com/hashtag/CallToAction?src=hash

https://twitter.com/hashtag/EthicsLeadership?src=hash

https://twitter.com/SAccompanies

https://twitter.com/hashtag/SeeSomethingSaySomething?src=hash

https://twitter.com/hashtag/WOKEYouth?src=hash

https://twitter.com/search?q=place%3A07d9e41c6c487000

https://twitter.com/MDCPSPPrevent

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Sandy Hook Promise & SAVE Social Media Handles Keep in mind! When you tag us, it’s easier for us to find your posts and re-share them! Twitter: @SandyHook, Instagram: @sandyhookpromise Twitter & Instagram: @nationalSAVE

Link Tree for Instagram Instagram only allows for you to have one clickable link on your profile, in your biography section. It makes it difficult to link to articles or webpages. Create a FREE Link Tree account to add multiple links to your profile at a time - just be sure to tell people in your caption, “Click the link in our bio to read/see/find out more!”.

Drobox Folder with SHP/SAVE Logos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z5n4hk5hy8undh5/AADKHHHmYZ-gywnIgsvwTp84a?dl=0

Recommended Social Posts to Align with Monthly Themes

August – Kick-Off A Promise School Tweets: 1. We are headed #BackToSchool and so excited to launch our new @nationalSAVE Promise

Club! Join us for our first meeting on enter time/location and help us create a safer, more connected school culture!

2. Looking to make our school a better place? Join our new @nationalSAVE Promise Club and help lead Call-To-Action Weeks and prevent violence!

Facebook/Instagram: 1. Our school is officially launching a Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise

Club! We are so excited for the positive impact this will have on our school and community. If you’d like to join, come to our meetings on DAY /TIME at/in location ! Our SAVE Promise Club is looking forward to implementing violence prevention programs and creating a safer school culture for everyone.

September – Start With Hello Tweets: 1. #StartWithHello Week is just around the corner! Find someone new and say hello, invite

them to sit with you at lunch, or play with you at recess. Reach out and include those who may be left out. It’s easy! @nationalSAVE @SandyHook

2. Our @nationalSAVE Promise Club is participating in #StartWithHello Week to help reduce social isolation and promote inclusion with three simple actions: See someone alone, reach out & help, #StartWithHello!

3. Join us in the cafeteria/library/location for #StartWithHello Week Actvities! Post a selfie with a new friend and let us know why you #StartWithHello!

https://linktr.ee/

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z5n4hk5hy8undh5/AADKHHHmYZ-gywnIgsvwTp84a?dl=0

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Facebook/Instagram: 1. We’re excited to take part in #StartWithHello Week this September! Stay tuned for updates

from our SAVE Promise Club and where you can join us for activities later in the month! 2. It’s #StartWithHello Week! Schools across the country are participating in this year’s

#StartWithHello Call to Action Week to create kinder, more inclusive schools and communities. Watch out for updates and activities from our SAVE Promise Club all week!

October – Embrace Diversity Twitter: 1. This month our @nationalSAVE Promise Club is embracing diversity. Embracing diversity is

important to creating a safe, inclusive culture at school and accepting everyone for who they are.

2. Embracing diversity key to creating a more inclusive, kind culture at school. Our @nationalSAVE Promise Club will be sharing ways to embrace diversity and reduce isolation at our school!

Facebook/Instagram: 1. This month our @nationalSAVE Promise Club is embracing diversity. Embracing diversity is

important to creating a safe, inclusive culture at school and accepting everyone for who they are.

2. Embracing diversity key to creating a more inclusive, kind culture at school. This month, our SAVE Promise Club will be sharing ways to embrace diversity and reduce isolation at our school because all our students should feel safe, supported, included, and respected.

November – Reach Out and Help Twitter: 1. As we head into the giving season, our @nationalSAVE Promise Club wants you to start

thinking about ways to reach out and help. Say hello to a stranger, donate to a food drive, help a friend with a project. Being kind makes a huge impact!

2. This month, our @nationalSAVE Promise Club will be sharing ways we can all reach out and help one another. Let us know: What are some ways you like to help a friend or someone in need?

3. Tell us how you like to reach out a help someone in your life, a friend or a stranger, and we’ll retweet you! @nationalSAVE

Facebook/Instagram : 1. This month, our SAVE Promise Club will be sharing ways we can all reach out and help one

another. Let us know in the comments: What are some ways you like to help a friend or someone in need?

2. As we head into the giving season, our SAVE Promise Club wants you to start thinking about ways to reach out and help. Say hello to a stranger, donate to a food drive, help a friend with a project. Being kind makes a huge impact!

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3. There are tons of ways to reach out and help others. You can choose to speak up and #SaySomething when someone needs help, or you can give back to a cause you care about. You can help a friend with their homework or be extra nice to the barista. A little kindness goes a long way, reach out and help someone today!

December – Promote Kindness and Compassion Twitter: 1. This month, our @nationalSAVE Promise Club will be promoting #kindness and compassion.

You can start by using #StartWithHello to reach out to someone who may be lonely or isolated!

2. The holidays can be a hard time for people who may be living with grief or who are isolated. Let us know: What are some ways we can all promote kindness and compassion for all this month?

3. It’s cool to be kind! Show kindness and compassion this month by reaching out to an old friend, doing a random act of kindness, or helping someone in need!

1. Part of being kind and compassionate includes being kind and compassionate toward ourselves. Take some time for #selfcare this month. What are some ways you practice self-care?

Facebook/Instagram: 1. This month, our SAVE Promise Club will be promoting #kindness and compassion. You can

start by using #StartWithHello to reach out to someone who may be lonely or isolated! 2. The holidays can be a hard time for many people. Part of being kind and compassionate

includes being kind and compassionate toward ourselves. Take time for self-care this month. Some self-care activities include taking a walk, calling a friend, baking a dessert to share, meditating, taking a nap, or treating yourself to a fun activity!

3. It’s cool to be kind! Show kindness and compassion this month by reaching out to an old friend, doing a random act of kindness, or helping someone in need!

January – Encourage Changemakers! Twitter: 1. It’s a new year and a great time to jump into a new project! If there’s something you’re

passionate about, come to our next @nationalSAVE Promise Club meeting and share your interests!

2. Young people are the backbone of all social change. Your voice is important and necessary to make an impact on our world and we want you to advocate for the change you wish to see!

3. Are you a changemaker? Do you dream of becoming a changemaker? Join our @nationalSAVE Promise Club and create change today, in our school and community!

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1. “Changemaker (n): One who desires change in the world and, by gathering knowledge and resources, makes that change happen.” What makes you a changemaker? What do you care about most and work to change for the better?

Facebook/Instagram: 1. “Changemaker (n): One who desires change in the world and, by gathering knowledge and

resources, makes that change happen.” What makes you a changemaker? What do you care about most and work to change for the better?

2. Young people are the backbone of all social change. Your voice is important and necessary to make an impact on our world and we want you to advocate for the change you wish to see! Join our SAVE Promise Club and become a changemaker, today!

3. The New Year is a great time to make change! Youth voices are important and necessary to make an impact on our world. Young people embody what it means to be a changemaker and inspire us all to do better, be kinder, and work hard for what we care most about. What do you want most to change, in our community or country, for the better this year?

February – Empathize and Include Twitter: 1. In the fall, we hosted #StartWithHello Week at enter school name and this month, we’re

bringing back the #StartWithHello vibe! We want to expand how our school community empathizes and includes. What do you know about empathy?

2. DYK?: Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It’s different from sympathy which means having feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune or understanding between people; a common feeling.

3. What are some ways we can learn to better empathize? We can focus our attention on the welfare and needs of others. Learn 8 more ways here: http://bit.ly/2LbiLR9

4. Let’s talk about #empathy. @BreneBrown tells us, “Empathy drives connection, sympathy fuels disconnection.” Watch this short clip to learn more: https://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw

Facebook/Instagram: 1. What are some ways we can learn to better empathize? We can focus our attention on the

welfare and needs of others. Learn 8 more ways here: http://bit.ly/2LbiLR9 2. What does #empathy look like? It looks like listening, connecting with someone’s feelings,

acknowledging their pain, and showing you care. https://medium.com/@lauraclick/want-to-be-

more-empathetic-avoid-these-7-responses-21bb52d5d2ad 3. Have you been able to show empathy to a friend or classmate? What are some things you think

might have worked, or what are some ways you can improve in the future? 4. Did You Know?: Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It’s

different from sympathy, which means having feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune or understanding between people; a common feeling.

http://bit.ly/2LbiLR9

https://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw

http://bit.ly/2LbiLR9

https://medium.com/@lauraclick/want-to-be-more-empathetic-avoid-these-7-responses-21bb52d5d2ad

https://medium.com/@lauraclick/want-to-be-more-empathetic-avoid-these-7-responses-21bb52d5d2ad

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March – Say Something Twitter: 1. We’re taking a stand against gun violence. Join us and bring the #SaySomething program to

your community: http://bit.ly/1OTbkcb 2. Together we CAN #ProtectOurKids from gun violence by teaching them to spot threats and

#SaySomething: http://bit.ly/1OTbkcb 3. Prevent today’s threats from becoming #TomorrowsNews. Protect each other. Know the

signs. #SaySomething. Save lives. http://bit.ly/2AbUyRy 4. This month, we’re bringing #SaySomething Call to Action Week to name of your school! Join

us for activities and training on the ways to spot threats of violence in person and on social media. Together we can help keep our school safe!

Facebook/Instagram: 1. This month, we’re bringing #SaySomething Call to Action Week to name of your school! Join

us for activities and training on the ways to spot threats of violence in person and on social media. Together we can help keep our friends and our school safe!

2. When you #SaySomething, you have the power to prevent violence before it starts, and it’s easy! Look for warning signs signals and threats, act immediately and take it seriously, and #SaySomething to a trusted adult.

3. In 7 out of 10 acts of gun violence, another person was told about the plan. Let’s learn how to #SaySomething: http://bit.ly/1OTbkcb

4. When you don't know what to look for, it can be easy to miss signs of someone in crisis or planning violence. Know the signs and #SaySomething: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8syQeFtBKc

April – Empower Upstanders Twitter: 1. Have you noticed anyone you know acting as an upstander? Upstanders are people who see

something concerning and act on it. Upstanders are bystanders who take action! 2. When we stand up for what is right and do our best to help support and protect someone

who may be being hurt, bullied, or in crisis, we are exhibiting upstander behavior. 3. This month take a moment to thank someone who you’ve seen acting as an upstander!

Let’s empower our school to be upstanders, not bystanders. Facebook/Instagram: 1. This month take a moment to thank someone who you’ve seen acting as an upstander!

Let’s empower our school to be upstanders, not bystanders. 2. We can all be upstanders by standing up for what is right and doing our best to help support

and protect someone who may be being hurt, bullied, or in is crisis. 3. How do you empower upstanders in your community? Think about the ways being an

upstander helps us all and how we can encourage more of our peers and community members to create an upstander culture!

http://bit.ly/1OTbkcb

http://bit.ly/1Jbtr92

http://bit.ly/2AbUyRy

http://bit.ly/1OTbkcb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8syQeFtBKc

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May – Mindfulness for Mental Health Twitter: 1. May is #MentalHealthMonth! This month, we’ll focus on the ways we can use mindfulness

for our mental health and wellness. 2. Mindfulness is the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something, a mental state

achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and sensations. #MentalHealthMonth

3. Have you ever practiced mindfulness as part of your mental health and wellness routine? What would you need to get started if not? #MentalHealthMonth

4. Mindfulness can help lessen anxiety, depression, insomnia, among other things! Check out this article from @MayoClinic for more: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356

Facebook/Instagram:

1. Do you know how to practice #Mindfulness? The Mayo Clinic has details and ways to get started. #MentalHealthMonth https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356

2. Mindfulness is the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something, a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and sensations. #MentalHealthMonth

3. Have you ever practiced mindfulness as part of your mental health and wellness routine? What would you need to get started if not? #MentalHealthMonth

June – Celebrate Success

This month create a twitter thread documenting your favorite moments or special activities you held throughout the school year. Tag @nationalSAVE and @SandyHook so we can share! Twitter: 1. Our @nationalSAVE Promise Club has worked hard all year implementing violence

prevention programs and creating a more connected community. Follow this thread for some of our favorite moments! [create a thread with special moments and photos]

2. Our @nationalSAVE Promise Club has had tons of success this year! Throughout the call-to-action weeks and other events we were able to create a more connected community and create a safer school. Join our Club in the fall to make your mark!

Facebook/Instagram: 1. Our @nationalSAVE Promise Club has worked hard all year implementing violence

prevention programs and creating a more connected community. Check out these photos of some of our favorite moments!

3. Our @nationalSAVE Promise Club has had tons of success this year! Throughout the call-to-action weeks and other events we were able to create a more connected community and create a safer school. Join our Club in the fall to make your mark and find out more by following us on Twitter and Instagram @insert your handles if applicable.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356




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SAVE Promise Club Announcements Loudspeaker announcements and morning broadcasts are no cost, simple ways to keep the

students and staff in your school community aware of SAVE Promise Club happenings. These

sample announcements will help you get started! These messages are best delivered by SAVE

student members, think about setting-up a rotating schedule of SAVE Promise Club members to

make announcements weekly.

Calling all students concerned about safety! Come join the SAVE

Promise Club to help shape school climate by empowering other

students to Start With Hello and Say Something. Want to know

more? Stop by room #____ on _______________’s afterschool for

details.

Looking to get more involved in your community? Join our SAVE

Promise Club so that you can educate, empower, encourage, and

engage students and staff to help prevention violence before it

happens! Check-out SAVE’s Insta page at ______________________

for more details.

Good Morning ______________________(school name or mascot

name)! Students Against Violence Everywhere is coming to your

cafeteria each Tuesday for Tolerance Tuesdays! Stop by the SAVE

Promise Club table near the snack shack to write a note of kindness

for someone and learn more about SAVE!

Each day this week, listen for the special safety tips given by our

school’s SAVE Promise Club. At the end of the week, stop by the main

lobby, take the SAVE Challenge, and get the chance to win a SAVE

Promise Club bracelet or

___________________________________________________.

Today’s safety tip is about warning signs: did you know that 87% of

active shooters plan their attack in advance? Make sure you know the

signs of violence to prevent a tragedy before it happens.

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CONNECT to Other SAVE Promise Clubs

in Your Region & Nationally!

SAVE Promise Club Regional Trainings &

the Annual SAVE Youth Summit Want to get together with other SAVE Promise Clubs in your area? Consider organizing,

attending, or hosting a training or attending the national SAVE Promise Club Youth Summit.

What are regional trainings?

Regional trainings typically happen in the fall and spring and help SAVE Promise Clubs share

best practices, learn new skills, collaborate with other SAVE Promise Clubs in your area, and

keep the SAVE-momentum going. In these trainings, your SAVE Promise Club will gain the

opportunity to:

✓ Meet students from other SAVE Promise Clubs in your area;

✓ Share and learn about SAVE Promise Club best practices;

✓ Practice public speaking skills and use your voice;

✓ Learn ways to lead effective Call-to-Action weeks; and

✓ Help empower students to look out for one another and create a safe community.

Fall Regional Trainings are scheduled for the following dates/locations in the

2019-20 Academic year, for more information please contact :

[email protected]

• California

o Los Angeles, October 19

• Connecticut

o Hamden, October 23

• Florida:

o St. Lucie region, August 29

o Hillsborough region:

September 27 & 28, October 8 & 9, November 19 & 20

• Other state regional trainings: Dates To Be Determined, please check-out

monthly SAVE Promise Club newsletters for more details.

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Tell me more about the National Annual

SAVE Youth Summit! Each year, the SAVE Promise Club National Youth Advisory Board, alongside Sandy Hook

Promise, organizes a youth summit open to SAVE Promise Clubs across the nation. The Summit

takes place in April and is centered on an exciting theme chosen by the national Youth Advisory

Board. What can you expect when you participate at the Summit with your SAVE Promise Club

members? Besides tons of fun, you will:

✓ Hear from keynote speakers, such as Sandy Hook Promise Managing Directors and

Founders, Mark Barden and Nicole Hockley;

✓ Attend student-led breakout sessions on cutting-edge topics to help strengthen your

SAVE Club;

✓ Share and learn about SAVE Promise Club best practices; and

✓ Meet SAVE Promise Club student leaders from so many areas of the United States!

SAVE-THE-DATE

Attend the next SAVE Promise Club Youth Summit!

When: April 4, 2020

Where: Ohio

More details to follow!

Interested in more information about

SAVE Regional Trainings & the Youth Summit?

Contact: [email protected]


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Peer-to-Peer Presentations and Adult Training

SAVE Promise Club student leaders have done a tremendous job teaching their

peers about Start With Hello and Say Something. Cross-age teaching, and

mentoring helps promote the mission of developing inclusive school

communities.

SAVE Promise Clubs have also delivered training sessions for Trusted Adults in

their school communities. The purpose of this training is to give the Trusted

Adults an understanding of what students learn in the Say Something program

and to inform the adults of the sentence starters and conversations that youth in

their school might approach them with when they take it seriously and identify a

warning sign.

Use the feedback form on the following form to help your SAVE Promise Clubs

celebrate the strengths of the presentations and workshops while also gathering

suggestions on how to consistently improve the way the information is delivered.

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Training/Presentation

FEEDBACK FORM

Our SAVE Promise Club worked hard to prepare

this training, we’d like to know how we did!

Thanks for your support and feedback!

I gained a lot of new ideas and knowledge from this training. 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all Agree Strongly Agree This training will help our school community. 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all Agree Strongly Agree I enjoyed learning about _______________________________________________________ from SAVE Promise Club student leaders. 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all Agree Strongly Agree Participating in a youth-led training was a highly engaging and motivating experience. 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all Agree Strongly Agree I am interested in joining the SAVE Promise Club. 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all Agree Strongly Agree Overall, this was an excellent and informative training. 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all Agree Strongly Agree My favorite part(s) of this training was/were:

Please feel free to share any other thoughts, suggestions, and ways to improve the training:

Something else I’d really like to share with the student presenters:

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Part 3 Activities, Icebreakers, and

Start with Hello &

Say Something Weeks

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Quick Activities, Icebreakers, and Teambuilders

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SAVE-THE-DAY:

Buddy Search

Time: One School Day at the start of the School Year

Created by: The SAVE Youth Advisory Board 2019-20

Objectives: SAVE Promise Club members will lead a start of the school year kick-off activity to get students to reach-out and connect with others and start a conversation by staring with “Hello.”

Standard Alignment CASEL Competency:

Relationship-Building: The ability to start healthy social engagement with other students using a connector icebreaker.

Student Leader and Advisor Facilitator Notes This activity is made to be adaptable to meet a school’s needs and schedule. It can be run in the following ways:

• SAVE Club members distribute the Buddy Search bingo cards during hallway passing time.

• SAVE Club members introduce SAVE and distribute ‘Welcome Back to School’ flyers and Scavenger Hunt cards during homeroom or advisory periods.

• SAVE Club members give-out cards during a club activity fair or club rush.

Main Activity Invite students to sit or stand in a circle.

Fill-out a Find a Buddy Scavenger Hunt card with a different student name in each square. The first five students to return a card to a SAVE Promise Club member earn a ‘prize.’ Sample prizes could include:

• Join SAVE Promise Club members on Friday at lunch for pizza and games.

• Free ‘uniform’ pass.

• Free ticket to a school sports game. • SAVE Club or school swag or merch.

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Closing When SAVE Club members have collected all the Buddy Search bingo cards, discuss the impact the activity had on the larger school community. Reflect on these questions as a group:

• What were the positive outcomes of this activity?

• Did students get excited about participation? • What would we do differently if we ran this activity again?

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Welcome Back to School!

Do you want to empower, educate, and engage others about

school safety and violence prevention? Interested in helping

our school community be more connected and inclusive?

Come Join _________________School’s

SAVE Promise Club What does our SAVE Promise Club stand for?

Mission: Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) educates and empowers

members of the school community to recognize warning signs of violence and

emphasize the importance of unity and diversity. Our goal is to prevent

violence, bullying and social isolation to create a safer school.

Contact Name:_____________________________________________

Contact Info: ____________________________________________

Next Meeting Dates: ________________________________________

________________________________________

Meeting Location: ________________________________________

What Else You Should Know:

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

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Back To School Buddy Search

Has met a famous person

Has never been on a

roller coaster

Been to a live concert

Knows the SAVE Promise

Club

Wearing same favorite shoe

brand

Loves the same fruit

Can teach you a dance

Can recite the Alphabet

backwards!

Plays more than 2 sports

Has the same first letter in their name

Can write in cursive

Can speak more than one

language

We

SAVED your spot!

Traveled around the

country or is from another

country

Double-jointed

Can juggle Has good handwriting

Has broken a bone

Has been a babysitter

Has the same Horoscope

Has been on an airplane

Has a pet Has a dietary preference/re

striction

Same birthday month

Has cut their own hair

Find someone in the school who you

don’t know and ‘matches’ each

square. Get their signature, complete

the card, and return it to a SAVE

Promise Club member

by:________________________ in

room:______________________.

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BEST PRACTICE ALERT!

“Dip-Your-Toes-Into-SAVE”

QUICK GUIDE These activities are called “Dip-your-toe-into-SAVE.” They are quick 10 – 15 minute activities to get the

ball rolling in your SAVE Promise Club meetings at the beginning of the year. They are intended to be

fun, informative, and help SAVE members get-to-know one another. Once your SAVE Club is established

with routines and clear agendas, you can dive into the deeper water by trying-out some of the

leadership development training and full lesson plans.

Test-Out Your

Hello Styles

Spend a few minutes discussing the three steps of Start With Hello and then ask SAVE members to come-up with a master list of all the different ways they can say “Hello” to each other and other students and staff in the school community.

Challenge each other to go around the meeting space and test out as many of the Hello Styles as possible. When students are laughing and smiling, you will know this activity is a success.

BE MINDFUL

SAVE Club members have a challenging task of looking out for one another and teaching peers to do the same. Don’t forget about looking after yourself - this is self-care practice.

• How are feeling today? (use a feeling word- not good etc., for a list of pleasant and unpleasant feelings distribute or project this list by the Center for Nonviolent Communication Feelings Inventory )

• What is your goal for today (or this week)?

• Who is going to help you?

https://www.cnvc.org/training/resource/feelings-inventory

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HEY DAY!

and

Welcome Back Week

Whether it’s the first day of school, first day of every month, or on random Fridays throughout the year, organize “Hey Days!” Kennedy High School’s SAVE Promise Club in Los Angeles, California has had great success organizing these friendly meet-and-greets for all students as they enter the school building or campus. Just saying a friendly “Hey” or “Hello” and giving-out high-fives to every student as they enter the building can have an incredible emotion-boosting impact! Give everyone a compliment card or kindness note as they enter and your SAVE Club members will receive lots of gratitude and appreciation for making everyone’s day just a little brighter. Incorporate Hey Day into a larger Welcome Back-to-School Week – it’s a favorite of one of SAVE’s Youth Advisory Board members: Angel and Welcome Back Week

Synergize with Other Clubs

Band together with other clubs to create a Club fair or tailgating party to promote the Club’s activities and give your SAVE Promise Club visibility to the entire school community.

Make a Quick Say Something or Start With Hello Video to promote the messages year-round!

After training students in the Say Something program, capture quick 10-second video clips of students finishing the statement: Why I Say Something. Compile a short (3-5) minute video capturing students from all grade-levels sharing-out why they Say Something and play the video on the school broadcast system or ask homeroom teachers to share the video.

Check-out these sample student-created videos:

St. Stephen's High School North Carolina

Burnet Middle School Texas

Mukwanago High School Wisconsin

Make “I Am a Trusted Adult” Signs and Pins for Lanyards

Spend 15-minutes or so of your meeting to make signs that can be posted or hung outside teachers’ classrooms and small cards that can be placed in the plastic sleeves of lanyards (if teachers use these at your school). The signs should say “I Am a Trusted Adult.” Make the signs eye-catching and fun. At a follow-up SAVE Promise Club meeting, use the action plan form to think about how you will distribute the new Trusted Adult signs and get teachers to sign-up and post them on their classroom doors.

Steele Canyon High School in San Diego, California created these fun trusted adult pins!

https://youtu.be/-XSyePp1Jus

https://youtu.be/-XSyePp1Jus

https://youtu.be/3iOP1j4qLzc

https://youtu.be/OzMVHl4f13o

https://youtu.be/TKxLiElOztY

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SAVE Icebreakers & Team Builders It’s all about building positive, supportive relationships! When a SAVE Promise Club’s members

unify and become like family, the hard work that you do throughout the year becomes even

more fun and rewarding! These quick-n-easy icebreakers, team builders, and pump-up SAVE

Promise Club activities can help your members get-to-know one another. These icebreakers

can be modified for each age group.

Icebreaker: The Friendly Debate!

Divide SAVE Promise Club members into pairs and ask them to take a side and defend their

position on the following questions for two minutes each.

▪ Which food is better: pizza or tacos?

▪ Would you rather go on a hike or to the movies?

▪ What skill is more valuable: creativity or logic?

▪ Which is worse: being bored or being too busy?

▪ Is it better to have all the money in the world or nothing at all?

Icebreaker: It’s OK to Fly Paper Airplanes!

Each person writes a fact about themselves on a paper, folds the paper into an airplane,

and flies it somewhere in the room. after everyone has thrown their planes, students grab

someone else’s airplane. Students read the fact inside the plane aloud and try to guess

which student SAVE Club member that fact belongs to.

Icebreaker and Team Builder: Beach Ball Toss & Talk

Prior to this activity, you will need to purchase an inflatable beach ball or get a used/donated volleyball or soccer ball. Using a permanent marker, write prompts and questions all over the ball (see below for examples). Students toss the ball to each other and wherever the student’s pinky lands on the ball is the question they answer.

• City or country?

• Thank someone in the room for something they helped you with

• Favorite part of the school day

• One day I’d like to travel to…..

• I wish for……

• Favorite holiday

• If I was going to challenge anyone to a game, it would be…..

• Playing video games or reading a book?

• I’m so happy that I talked to _____________ today at this meeting.

• Favorite time of day

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Icebreaker: SAVE Scavenger Hunt

Objective: Get your SAVE Club connecting over school items and values.

Materials: A phone, camera,or computer to take pictures.

Procedure: Break-up your SAVE Club members into pairs or groups of 3-4 students depending on your Club membership size. Be selective about matching students up, this is a great activity to pair-up veteran Club members with newbies, 8th graders with 6th graders, etc. If an elementary-age SAVE Club is completing this activity, make sure each team is supervised by an adult. Instruct ‘teams’ that they have 15 minutes to collect pictures of or hardcopies of any of the items below:

• School mascot;

• School Mission Statement;

• A space in the school where you may witness social isolation;

• A safe space in the school where students like to hang-out;

• A SAVE Club flyer, sign, mural, brochure, or bulletin board display;

• A Trusted Adult;

• A mural or artwork display;

• A place where students can get help if they need it;

• Information about where students can get help if they need it;

• Evidence that kindness matters at your school;

• Student Choices_____________________________________. After 15-minutes, ask teams to circle-up and share-out how many items they captured either in a photo or physical item. Next, have each individual report on something that they learned about their school from this activity. To wrap-up, ask the group what the greatest take-aways were. It could be that a member learned something new about another member, or a student read the mission statement for the first time.

Icebreaker: Facts About You

Objective: Getting To Know Your Peers

Materials: M&M’s, Skittles, or toilet paper squares

Procedure:

1. Pass the bag of candy or roll of toilet paper around and tell everyone to take as many as they want or need. If you use candy, be sure to tell them not to eat anything yet.

2. After the item is passed around, ask everyone to count how many items they have (# of pieces of candy, toilet paper squares, etc.)

3. Ask members to introduce themselves and for every item they must tell one interesting or significant fact about themselves (where they were born, a favorite movie, why they joined SAVE, a favorite food, a unique skill or talent they have, etc.)

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Icebreaker: SAVE Name Game

Objective: Get your SAVE Club members to know each other’s names and start learning more about one another

Materials: A few balls or items that can be tossed around the room such as a stuffed animal.

Procedure: Sit or stand in a circle. Ask one student member to start the name game by stating their name and tossing the ball to another student by calling out their name. The person who receives the ball says ‘”Thank you, (name)” and then throws the ball to a different student by name. It goes like this:

“Here you go, Jen!”

“Thank you, Chris. Here you go, Sabrina.”

“Thank you, Chris. Here you go, Kim.”

“Thank you, Sabrina. Here you go, George.”

And so on, and so forth.

Once you have tossed the ball to each and student in the circle, start the process again with the same routine. However, this time, start another ball going in which each student needs to toss the ball to a different person than before. If you have a big group, a great challenge is to get up to 10 name games going at the same time.

As an extension, toss the ball around the circle again, however, ask students to finish the sentence: (student name) you are special because_________________. The SAVE National Youth Advisory Board strongly supports this activity because by complimenting one another, SAVE Club members are lifting each other up emotionally. It is another way for SAVE Club members to express that they “have each other’s backs.”

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Teambuilder: Build-a-Tower

Objective: Get your SAVE Club members to learn how to communicate effectively to accomplish a task/goal. Problem-solving and teamwork are involved in these building games.

Materials: Plastic cups, elastic bands, and string; building blocks (like Jenga); or marshmallows, masking tape, string, and uncooked spaghetti.

Procedure: Gather the supplies you need and create groups of 4-to-8 SAVE Club members. If possible, repeat this teambuilding activity and mix-up the groupings each time. Each activity has slightly different instructions and variations, but the end results are the same, you’ll have fun with your SAVE Club members while practicing and getting-to-know your unique communication styles!

• Cups-n-Strings: Use plastic cups, an elastic band, and string to stack a tower. This activity takes a steady hand and sharp communication skills. For a visual and demonstration, check-out this video: Cup Stacking Activity Demo

• Marshmallow Tower: This activity can get competitive! Put 18-minutes on a timer and instruct teams to create a tower out of the following supplies: 20 sticks of spaghetti, 3 feet of string, 3 feet of masking tape, and one marshmallow. No matter what, the marshmallow must balance and be placed at the very top of the tower. The tallest standing tower wins! Preview this video to watch a group of Middle School students competing in the challenge: Marshmallow Tower Demo

• Blindfolded Jenga: Use Jenga game blocks or make your own in wood shop class. The object is simple, work as a group to remove as many blocks from the tower carefully and then place the removed blocks at the top of the tower. Here’s the catch, when it’s one group member’s turn to remove and replace a block, they must do it blindfolded! This is where they rely on clear directions and positive reinforcement from the other non-blindfolded teammates. Blindfolded Jenga Tower Demo

https://youtu.be/S-MTuGSTJR8

https://youtu.be/xy54jxC_Z6A

https://youtu.be/W1GtNJSal7o

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Quick Activities, Icebreakers, and Teambuilders

Start With Hello and Say Something Weeks

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Start With Hello and Say Something Weeks: A Way To Celebrate and Promote the Start With Hello and

Say Something Programs SAVE Promise Club student leaders create a culture of looking out

for one another, being upstanders and preventing violence before

it happens – creating safer classrooms, schools and communities.

Part of creating this culture is organizing two Call-to-Action Weeks

each year. Below find details on how to register for CTA weeks,

access CTA week resources, and learn about activities and award-

winning events SAVE Promise Clubs have organized for Start With

Hello and Say Something Weeks.

Start With Hello Call To Action (CTA) week happens in the fall and is a fantastic way to engage your entire school community in the Start With Hello message and steps: See Someone Alone, Reach-Out and Help, and Start With Hello. Schools register for Start With Hello CTA week online at:

SHP SWH Week Registration

By registering, your SAVE Club will gain access to Start With Hello CTA week planning and implementation guides, train-the-trainer videos, and a host of tips and opportunities to spread the Start With Hello message!

Schools and students can enter CTA week contests for the innovative, comprehensive, and just plain cool ways they implement and participate in Start With Hello CTA week. Read about some past SAVE Promise Club winners for CTA week efforts:

Bloomfield New Jersey Start With Hello District Award

Burnet Middle School SAVE Club Texas

St. Stephen's High School SAVE North Carolina

SAVE Club Mukwonago Wisconsin SWH Award

Say Something Call To Action (CTA) week takes place in the spring to galvanize the school community to: Look for Warning Signs and Threats; Act Immediately, Take It Seriously; and Say Something! Schools register for Say Something CTA week online at:

SHP Say Something Week Registration

An overview of the Say Something program can be viewed on this quick 2-minute video by Sandy Hook Promise:

Say Something Overview Video

SAVE Promise Clubs in Swansboro, North Carolina and Meriden, Connecticut received national recognition and awards for going the extra-mile in the implementation of their Say Something Call To Action weeks. You can watch and read about these incredible SAVE Clubs here:

News Story Swansboro High School North Carolina

Platt High School Connecticut

Kids Community College SAVE Club Riverview Florida


https://essexnewsdaily.com/headlne-news/77299

https://essexnewsdaily.com/headlne-news/77299

https://www.dailytrib.com/2018/09/07/burnet-middle-school-honored-for-its-start-with-hello-efforts-to-end-social-isolation/

https://www.hickoryrecord.com/news/community/st-stephens-students-receive-national-recognition-for-anti-bullying-efforts/article_d1d5817c-3ae9-11e9-bb79-fbdee5be8608.html

https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/news/mukwonago/2018/09/12/sandy-hook-parents-honor-mukwonago-high-inclusiveness-initiative/1277928002/


https://youtu.be/pBykpJ6nPsc

https://www.wnct.com/news/local-news/swansboro-hs-student-club-wins-award-for-school-safety-efforts/2039716516

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/Platt-High-School-receives-national-violence-prevention-award.html

https://patch.com/florida/bloomingdale/kcc-high-school-named-runner-say-something-campaign

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Club Created Activities

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BEST PRACTICE ALERT! Easy Lifts with Big Impacts:

SAVE High School Best Practices

Who? The Activity

SAVE Promise Club

Columbia High School,

Mississippi

Morning Meet-N-Greets

According to SAVE Advisor Toni Floyd, youth leaders brought about social change through meet-n-greets.

“Several times throughout the school year our SAVE students stand at the entrance doors to our schools and greet our students with a smile and a hearty good morning. It’s amazing the change in attitudes this has brought about in our students. Our SAVE Promise Club members are leading others to stand up for those who may feel alone, and I see them sitting with new students and those who are sitting by themselves at lunch or break.”

The Start With Hello initiative was featured in the local Columbian Progress newspaper:

Start With Hello Bridges Gaps

https://www.columbianprogress.com/social-schools/start-hello-bridges-gap-chs#sthash.IJ90k9UI.dpbs

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SAVE Promise Club, Swansboro

High School,

North Carolina

Making Your SAVE PromiseClub Visible

Claim a wall in a highly visible space in your school where you can paint a mural, hang your SAVE Mission statement, and post Club happenings. Let the school community know where they can go to learn more about SAVE over morning announcements or broadcasts.

SAVE Promise Club,

Aurora High School, Ohio

For Say Something Week, students posted who their trusted adult is. Following the week, the adult’s names received certificates to hang in their classrooms that they are someone’s trusted adult. Those not names received one that said “Happy to be your trusted adult”

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SAVE Promise Club,

Chardon High School, Ohio

Positivity Jars!

Want a way to break-the-ice with someone? After saying “Hello,”

offer students the chance to select a positive message from a

student-decorated jar. Inside each jar were positive quotes that

students either handwrote or printed. Students made one jar for

each staff person in the building. Many of them are used in the

classroom when anyone would benefit from a positive message.

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SAVE Middle School Best Practices

Who? Activity

Burnet Middle School,

Texas

The SAVE Club came-up with the idea to hang posters around the

school with different social media messages. The students

designed these, and each poster featured messages from all forms

of social media, with one of the messages being a sign that

someone was considering harming themselves or others. The

students had to read the messages and figure which was one was

a sign. We hung these around the school, and you could see

students stopping to read them throughout the week.

Mesa Verde Middle School,

California

SAVE student leaders organized a Say Something pledge banner

signing in the courtyard.

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Columbia Middle School,

North Carolina

Say Something Week Extravaganza!

The SAVE Club organized a wide variety of student-led activities for this Call-to-Action week! A banner signing on a CARE Wall was a big hit in which students and staff signed the banner naming others they care about. In addition to the student body, district staff and the Superintendent

joined in on ‘wear green day.’ To capture the festiveness of the day and promote awareness a photo booth was set up and where photographed adult and students alike participating in the week. To supplement and sustain the learning of the curriculum, Health/P.E. faculty and students conducted Say Something presentations. They also broadcast a school news program daily and Club members announced the upcoming events for the week and ran three PSAs that were student created. These were geared to encourage students to be aware of their surroundings and to reinforce the Evan video.

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Howe School of Excellence, Chicago, Illinois

SAVE Chat-N-Chew

At Howe School of Excellence, Student Ambassadors host SAVE Promise Club "Chat and Chew" at least twice a month during their lunch period where they engage in discussion with classmates on ways that they have made a difference in decreasing youth violence. They also create this space and other spaces that are high social areas as a NO BULLYING ZONES. These SAVE youth leaders continue the conversation on ways to combat youth violence by inviting community leaders, community service programs, and the police district to the discussions.

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SAVE Elementary Best Practices

Silver Buff Elementary School, Miami, Florida

Silver Buff Elementary SAVE students got the whole school involved in Start With Hello Week. Daily activities were planned so all students had something to look forward to:

Day One: Hey Day – students greeted one another by their names.

Day Two: Positivity Tuesday – students were encouraged to inspire kindness.

Day Three: Make Miami Green – Green was worn by students to show the district’s commitment to create an inclusive community.

Day Four: We Mingle – students were encouraged to go outside of their circle and greet new people.

Day Five: Forget Me Not Friday – students took the pledge to always say hello and be kind to one another.

Broadmoor Middle School, Louisiana The Broadmoor SAVE Promise Club created a ‘sticky notes of kindness’ glass wall in the highly visible main office with the three Start With Hello steps prominently displayed for all to see. Additionally, they coordinated a H-E-L-L-O ‘aerial photo to symbolize school connectedness.

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Salem Township Elementary, Little Miami School District, Ohio

Salem Township Elementary makes Start With Hello a theme for the whole school year and it is truly a collaborative initiative between the School Counselors, Art Teacher, Student Council Advisors, Music Teacher, and of course, SAVE Promise Club and Student Council student leaders. The Club is comprised of two student representatives from each 4th and 5th grade homeroom who are charged with the task of spreading the message of inclusion in kindness to their peers during homeroom.

During Start With Hello Week, the local Junior High School SAVE Club visited the elementary school and facilitated the ‘Would you rather’ icebreaker and helped with the photobooth. The school also organized a very popular ‘Get to Know Me Scavenger Hunt’ – students identified 3 things about themselves and searched for students at recess who had things in common with them.

According the staff at Salem Township, “The activities built into the Start With Hello Program really helped knit those new kids (5 new students entered the school) a little more tightly into our class family, all while strengthening old friendships.”

The Art Teacher coordinated the student handprint and 3 SWH step mural.

The district posted the school’s blog on Start With Hello Week, check-out the wonderful project description and pictures!

https://www.littlemiamischools.com/salem-township-elementary-blog/entry/start-with-hello-week-at-salem-759/for/

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Part 4 Empowering Your SAVE Club

Members by Developing

Leadership Skills

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Leadership Skill Development

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Smart Speaking tips

Time: 1 SAVE Club Meeting Objectives

SAVE Promise Club members will learn tips for speaking and communicating clearly and confidently.

SAVE Promise Club members will write and practice delivering an elevator speech about their participation in SAVE Promise Clubs.

Standard Alignment

CASEL Competency: Self-Awareness: students will build the confidence to communicate why they participate in SAVE Promise Club, how the SAVE Promise Club impacts school climate, and what the SAVE Promise Club does to deliver important Start With Hello and Say Something messages to the larger school community.

Student Leader and Advisor Facilitator Notes

This lesson should be delivered at a SAVE Promise Club meeting first. If your SAVE Club finds it to be a rewarding activity, it can then be delivered by your members to other classes and clubs.

Mindful Minute or Visualization

As we stand, inhale and raise your hands high above your head and take a long stretch. As you bring your hands to down your side, exhale slowly and completely. Keeping your eyes open or closed, imagine being on a stage in front of a large audience. You are asked to conduct a presentation. Let’s do a body scan: How does your body feel? How is your heart beating? How does your head and mind feel? What thoughts are going through your mind? What is the temperature of the room? What is the temperature of your body? How do your hands feel? Is your jaw relaxed or clenched? Take a moment to take three large inhales and exhales. How are you feeling now?

Student Connector

Mix-n-Mingle: Pretend that you are at a business conference and you need to meet everyone in the room. The goal is to put forward your ‘best self.’ Take the next three minutes to give everyone a handshake and a “Hello” in the room. After saying “Hello” do the following (even if you do, in fact, know the other students in the room):

• Your full name.

• Your favorite class.

• A skill or strength.

• I am looking for a job in/at_____________.

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Activity

Write and Perform Your Elevator Speech!

An elevator speech is a brief presentation that succinctly and clearly gets the information across about your role and the mission of SAVE Promise Clubs. Laurie Schloff is a Senior Coaching Partner for The Speech Improvement Company in Framingham, Massachusetts as well as a Sandy Hook Promise volunteer. Laurie has shared her expertise and created a set of Smart Speaking Tips for SAVE Promise Clubs so that all members can be prepared to communicate to other people about what the SAVE Promise Club is and what the Club does for the school community.

Before writing your presentation, review the 10 Smart Speaking Tips. Next, ask a SAVE Club member to read the sample presentation below:

My name is Daniel and I became involved in Central High School’s SAVE Promise Club two years ago because I enjoyed participating in Start With Hello week and wanted to help spread the message to the entire school. SAVE Promise Club – Students Against Violence Everywhere – is dedicated to reducing social isolation, creating a more caring and connected school community, and working with trusted adults to ensure all warning signs, signals, and threats are reported so no student harms themselves or others. The program has helped me become more confident and outspoken about how we can improve our school climate. It is a safe space where students of all grades and backgrounds come together to generate ideas, activities, and events to create a safe school community for everyone. It’s a great way to make new friends and make a difference at the same time. You can join the Club by registering with our Advisor, Ms. Connors, in room 102. We hold meetings every Wednesday afternoon from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Feel free to see me any time if you would like more information!

Practice Your Elevator Speech!

Set-up concentric circles around the classroom or meeting space with an inside and outside circle. Have the inside circle facing towards the outside and the outside circle towards the inside. You can also do this activity standing-up. Each student is paired up, but if there is an odd number have one student take a break for each round. Ask a timekeeper to set a timer for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, the timekeeper calls rotate and the students on the outside concentric circle rotate one desk/chair/space to the right. The timekeeper sets the clock for two minutes again and students practice delivering the same elevator pitch again. If time permits, allow students to practice delivering their speeches five times.

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Closing and Promise Challenge

To close the meeting, thank students for developing fantastic presentations and being caring, patient, brave, and focused during this meeting. As Laurie suggested, it is important to practice your SAVE Promise Club pitch at least ten times or more! So, as your Promise Challenge, practice your pitch to at least five more people this week. Don’t forget about practicing in front of friends, teachers, family members, bus drivers, coaches, or anyone else you see on a regular basis. It’s never a bad idea to also practice in front of the mirror. Good luck!

Text and Video Extensions

There are wonderful examples of strong public speakers and presentations online. Watching TED Talks is a great way to study body language, movement, eye contact, voice control, and pacing. Check-out the most popular TED Talks of 2018 Most Popular TED Talks 2018

https://www.ted.com/playlists/682/the_most_popular_ted_talks_of_2018

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10 Tips for Smart Speaking

Congratulations on your leadership and enthusiasm! You’ll have many opportunities to talk up your SAVE

Promise Club.

Here are 10 tips for smart speaking: building your speaking confidence and skills!

1. Prepare a conversational short presentation (1-2 minutes). Describe:

• Why you care about/how you got involved in your SAVE Promise Club

• A sentence or two about your program initiatives (Say Something, Start with Hello, Know the Signs, etc.)

• A sentence about the 4 E’s: Educate, Empower, Encourage, Engage.

• How the program can benefit your school and classmates

• How to get involved

2. Practice your Promise Club pitch 10x or more. It’s perfectly ok to have notes at first. You can practice aloud or even in your head. Video recording with a friend can be fun and helpful.

3. Give your short talk to 5 close friends or family members. It’s ok to stumble and be a bit nervous.

4. Use a strong voice and speak conversationally (not like you are scripted!).

5. Control your speed and breathing by pausing for a count of 1-2 in between phrases and sentences.

6. Avoid mumbling by putting on word endings and keeping up your volume at the end of sentences. Hint: D and T word endings (starT, leaD) are especially important, because they occur so frequently.

7. Show enthusiasm by emphasizing ONE word per sentence (or more!).

8. Look approachable with a friendly facial expression and look at your listeners’ face(s) when you’re talking.

9. Watch out for fidgeting or moving too much. Stand with your feet apart at shoulder width for a good base of support.

10. Control any nerves by squeezing together your thumb and middle finger as you speak. That way, you’ll be in control of your nervous energy.

Though you want to be prepared, you don’t have to be perfect!

Congratulations on being a SAVE Promise Club smart speaker! World Headquarters Framingham, MA 01701 USA

+1-617-739-3330 • 1-800-538-7727

www.speechimprovement.com

[email protected]

http://www.speechimprovement.com/


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SAVE Promise Club Tips for Creating

Promotional Videos Objectives:

SAVE Promise Club members will use their elevator pitches/speeches to create a promotional and educational video about their SAVE Promise Club.

Standard Alignment

CASEL Competency: Self-Awareness: students will build the confidence to deliver elevator pitches/speeches for a SAVE Club promotional video.


This activity should be completed after SAVE Club members have had the opportunity to write and practice elevator speeches.

Activity

Create a promotional video for your SAVE Club that is representative of your members, SAVE Promise Club mission, and student-created elevator speeches. Use any technology that you have easy-access to: cell phones, school film studio, video cameras, or computer webcams. Take an inventory of the strengths and skill set of your Club members to find out who has some video editing experience. Make the following decisions as a group prior to filming: ❑ Purpose? What do we want our audience to learn, gain, understand, or get motivated

about? ❑ Who? Who will appear in the video? ❑ Length of time? Keep it on the shorter side, try and stick to a 2 – 3-minute video that can

be shown on school broadcast systems or posted on the school website. ❑ How? How will your SAVE Club edit the video and gain consensus on it’s ready for public

distribution? Create a storyboard prior to filming. Draft a basic storyboard for your promo video that highlights the visuals/settings, screen text, dialogue, and additional props that will be displayed in your film.

View the Sandy Hook Promise YouTube Channel for some inspiration: SHP You Tube Channel and look at the 2-minute SAVE Promise Club video: SAVE Promise Club Promo Video

Share your videos with Sandy Hook Promise! Send them to:

[email protected] or [email protected]


https://youtu.be/HRIkCnF4zRs



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Storyboard for SAVE Promo Video

Visual

(what will be the background/images Main text or dialogue, talking points, etc.

/props/setting?)

• ________________________________________

• ________________________________________

• _________________________________________

• _________________________________________

Visual display

• _________________________________________

• __________________________________________

• __________________________________________

• __________________________________________

Visual display

• ____________________________________________

• ____________________________________________

• ____________________________________________

• ____________________________________________

Visual display

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Focus Group Protocol:

When There’s an Issue to Address

Time: 1 Club Meeting Objectives

Students will learn a protocol for addressing minor conflicts, challenges, and hurdles impacting SAVE Promise Clubs.

Students will learn a protocol for discussing issues that are affecting and impacting student safety and school climate.

Standard Alignment

Social Awareness: To take the perspective of others and try to understand their point-of-view about issues or challenges in the SAVE Promise Club or broader school community.

Responsible Decision-Making: The ability to identify and analyze problems and devise solutions for the problems while taking safety concerns and social norms into consideration.


Why use a Focus Group Protocol? When a specific issue arises and the SAVE Club members’ voices need to be heard, it’s a great time to use ‘Focus Group Protocols’ to get laser-focused on the issue your group wants to address. Elementary and Middle School SAVE Club Advisors will require an Advisor to facilitate the focus groups. High School SAVE Clubs should be student-led with the Advisor on standby to provide any additional support.

There are many different protocols and procedures for helping to address issues that arise in your school community. As a SAVE Promise Club, you will consistently use your circle discussion norms or guidelines and practice tuning-in to one another to build a safe, inclusive SAVE Club community. When it comes to using the Focus Group Protocol, you can stick to those same norms your Club has become accustomed to. However, with this focus group there are a more layers to ensure the meeting stays in the right lane and don’t stray from the central problem/challenge.

This focus group protocol can be used with a group of 4 to 15 students. If more than 15 students attend the meeting, it is advised to break-up the larger group into smaller focus groups of 4-to-6 students each. Each of the smaller groups will analyze the same challenge or problem. Leave 5 minutes at the end of the meeting for each smaller group to share-out their biggest take-aways.

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Possible Issues Affecting your SAVE Promise Club or whole school climate:

• Challenges recruiting a new and diverse group of SAVE Promise Club members.

• Challenges holding meetings afterschool.

• Poor attendance at SAVE Promise Club meetings.

• Start With Hello Week was a tremendous success, however, you are still witnessing signs of social isolation.

• Too many students don’t know about SAVE Promise Clubs.

• Observing an increase in cliques and segregation amongst different groups in the school community.

• Uptick in physical fights or violence within the school community.

• Concern about positive peer-trusted adult interactions and communications.

• An abundance of ‘jokes’ are made about students harming themselves or others (i.e. “I’ve got so many tests to study for this weekend, I might as well just end it!”).

• Mistrust in security personnel and/or law enforcement.

Mindful Minute

The Mindful Minute is intended to get your SAVE Promise Club members to leave behind the stressors of the day and be present. It is an opportunity to ‘push-aside’ any thoughts that might be creating some worry and anxiety and, instead, become absorbed into the SAVE Promise Club meeting. Be in the moment with the SAVE Promise Club members and enjoy everyone’s company and companionship by doing simple mindfulness techniques.

For this Mindful Minute, take a deep breath. Count 1-2-3 for the inhale and 3-2-1 for the exhale. Think about a time you felt heard. What was that moment in your life like?

After about 45 seconds, close with another ascending and descending 3-count breath.

Student Connector

Today’s student connector is to be completed in silence. Without talking, the group’s task is to arrange themselves in order in a single line using the following prompts. Students will need to use body language and other non-verbal communication techniques to get the task completed!

1. By birthdate day/month/year. 2. Reverse alphabetical order by last name Z – A. 3. Order in which students got to today’s SAVE meeting. 4. Student Choice:______________________________________________________

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After completing these connectors, reinforce that eye-contact, visual cues, hand gestures, facial expressions, and emotion can be forms of communication. Communicating with others isn’t always verbal, there are other nonverbal ways to express ourselves or communicate an idea or thought. Observing different communication styles can help you better understand how, as SAVE Promise Club student leaders, you can effectively communicate with other students who may be different from you.

Activity

Form a circle after the Student Connector activity. A student focus group can take place using the circle process. Any type of focus group requires strong ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS. Ask a student leader to share these tips for active listening:

• Be present, just as you were during the Mindful Minute.

• Use body language to express that you are hearing one another.

• Put away all distractions, such as phones, computers, and tablets.

• Refrain from making judgements, simply listen.

• Be open to changing your mind, don’t get so locked-in to your mindset.

Next, your SAVE Club has already identified a SAVE Club culture or school community climate issue to address for this focus group. Using strict timekeeping and laser-focused attention to the issue at hand, address the questions and sentence starters in the Focus Group protocol provided.

Once the focus group discussion has ended, decide next steps.

• Is there an activity your SAVE Club wants to plan for the next meeting to help the issue or problem discussed?

• Does your SAVE Club need to use an action plan to organize an event/presentation/activity to address the issue or problem discussed at a larger scale?

• Do we need to make any appointments with trusted adults and/or administration in the building to share the concerns addressed in our discussion and propose solution?


To close this activity, thank all members for being open-minded, real, and amazing active listeners! Remind SAVE Club members that what is shared individually in focus group discussions should remain anonymous and confidential. Big picture ideas and solutions should be shared with the SAVE Club Advisor.

This week’s Promise Challenge is to ask each SAVE Club member to bring-a-friend to one of the upcoming meetings to learn about SAVE Promise Club.

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SAVE Club Focus Group Protocol

NOTES Facilitator Name:____________________________Date:__________

Focus Question Notes

(1) What is the main issue/challenge our SAVE Club is addressing for this focus group?

(2) How is each member of our SAVE Club feeling about this issue.? On a scale of 1 (not too serious) to 10 (needs immediate intervention and attention), our SAVE Club would rate this issue a_____________.

(3) Why is our SAVE Club zoning-in or tuning-in to this issue/challenge today?

(4) What can we do as a SAVE Club to address/improve this issue or take on this challenge?

(5) If we implement our ideas and solutions, how will our SAVE Club and school benefit?

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SAVE Club Focus Group Protocol Focus Group Guidelines

In addition to your SAVE Promise Club meeting Norms, use these guidelines to keep the protocol on-

track:

❑ Be honest and real.

❑ Speak one-at-a-time and respect others’ verbal space.

❑ Don’t ‘blame’ or ‘judge’ others. If there is a problem or issue within your SAVE Club or school

community refrain from pointing people out or using names, instead, use general observations.

How to use this protocol

The group should appoint one student or adult facilitator. The facilitator reads question #1 aloud to the

group. Each member of the group responds to the question. After each person has responded, the

facilitator reads the next question to the group and opens-up the question to everyone in the group for

conversation.

(1) WHAT?

What is the main issue/challenge our SAVE Club is addressing for this focus group?

Each member of the focus group shares their interpretation of the

issue/challenge.

(2) HOW?

How is each member of our SAVE Club feeling about this issue?

On a scale of seriousness 1 (not too serious) to 10 (needs immediate intervention and attention), our SAVE Club would rate this

issue a ____.

(3) WHY?

Why is our SAVE Club zoning-in or tuning-in to this issue/challenge

today?

(4) WHAT?

What can we do as a SAVE Club to address/improve this issue or

take on this challenge?

(5) HOW?

If we implement our ideas and solutions, how will our SAVE Club and school community benefit?

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SAVE Promise Club Student Leaders Have

Superpowers when it comes to

Advocacy!

Let’s face it, SAVE Promise Club student leaders are advocates for change on so

many levels. It is challenging yet rewarding work to be the torch-bearers for

important school culture and safety initiatives. The following lesson includes

advocacy tips for the following situations:

✓ When your SAVE Promise Club wants to advocate for school or district

policy changes that affect student safety.

✓ When your SAVE Promise Club wants to get the attention of politicians and

the larger community on some important issues affecting your school.

✓ When your SAVE Promise Club wants to organize to take a major town,

state, or national legislative action.

✓ When your SAVE Promise Club wants to organize a march, rally, or event to

raise awareness about a cause or issue.

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SAVE Advocates!

Time: 1 Club Meeting Objectives:

SAVE Promise Club members will learn about policy, advocacy, and how to write stories and Letters-to-the-Editor to help affect social change. SAVE Promise Club members will be equipped to use their voice to expand and shape violence prevention programs.

Standard Alignment

CASEL Competency: Self-Awareness: Students will recognize their own thoughts, emotions, and values about a social justice cause to voice their opinion and express their feelings and proposals in Letters-to-the-Editor.


Once your SAVE Promise Club has completed this activity, think about asking Social Studies teachers if you can be a guest presenter in their classrooms and teach other students about policy and advocacy and how they can get involved with your SAVE Promise Club.

Activity

Why should SAVE Promise Clubs get involved in policy and advocacy? Student voices have been at the forefront of social change for many important historical events. Youth and student voices have made significant impacts in some of the most critical points in our history, and you can use your voice to do the same to prevent violence in your schools and communities! Review the difference between policy and advocacy. Policy: Policies are sets of ideas or plans that help guide decisions made by the government. Some examples of policy include laws, regulations, rules, and appropriations (funds), which can work hand-in-hand to elevate and secure violence prevention programs. Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) believes all students should have access to these programs, so SHP works to develop laws that can get programs like Start With Hello and Say Something to children around the country.

Advocacy: To advocate is to go out and support a policy or a cause, like violence prevention and mental health support. Advocacy is so important because legislators will listen if there are enough voices, so we need to make our voices heard!

Why should SAVE Promise Clubs get involved in policy and advocacy? Student voices have been at the forefront of social change for many important historical events. Youth and student voices have made significant impacts in some of the most critical points in our history, and you can use your voice to do the same to prevent violence in your schools and communities!

Share your videos with Sandy Hook Promise! Send them to:

[email protected] or [email protected]



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Writing Your Persuasive Story

Your ‘story’ can spark someone’s emotions and get them to listen more closely to the policy

issues you care most about. The same skills used to create and deliver an elevator speech can

be used to craft your story. This general outline will help you create a convincing story!

Intro: Who are you?

• A SAVE Promise Club student leader.

Problem: What issue do you want to solve?

• 1 in every 5 high school students reported being bullied at school.

• 1 in every 6 high school students seriously consider suicide.

• On average, 33 school shootings happen each year.

• 79% of schools report incidents of crime every year.

Solution: What bold and visionary idea do you have to solve this issue?

• Create mandatory violence prevention programs that teaches adults and students how

to recognize signs of violence and intervene to prevent tragedies.

Goal: What do you want to accomplish?

• Prevent school violence and increase school safety.

Strategy: How will you accomplish your goal? What steps are you taking?

• Create laws that require violence prevention education in schools.

Urgency: Why now?

• We cannot allow any more loss of life. Parkland, Colorado, Virginia Beach, enough!

Action: What does the person you are communicating this to need to do?

• Sponsor our legislation. Support these bills.

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How to Write an Effective Letter-to-the-Editor

When your SAVE Promise Club wants to affect policy change, try launching a SAVE Club-wide,

school-wide or community-wide letter-writing campaign. If you have any questions, reach-out

to Sandy Hook Promise at [email protected].

Purpose: Letters-to-the-editor (LTEs) are part of the Sandy Hook Promise overall legislative

strategy. They allow you to voice your opinion at the local level, they are a great tool for

complementing ongoing or future direct outreach to legislators. We use LTEs to spread

awareness among your neighbors and community on key issues, to convey a similar message in

as many places as possible and to show legislators their constituents are paying attention.

Tone & Voice: LTEs should be persuasive and positive. We want to highlight the opportunities

to improve legislation and recognize legislators for their work rather than focusing on the

negative. In order to create the biggest impact, it’s important to be personal, heartfelt, and

encouraging. Also, incorporate a few of our talking points to ensure your LTE is on-message but

use your own voice overall.

LTE 101 Tips

• Keep it short-and-sweet, between 150 – 300 words.

• Read the submission guidelines for your local newspapers.

• Write in your own voice.

We’re here for you: The national Sandy Hook Promise Policy Team is available to review your

SAVE Promise Club’s LTE. If you want a fresh set of eyes on it before you submit, simply send it

to us at [email protected].

Talking Points for your Letter-to-the-Editor

• Sandy Hook Promise is a national non-partisan, violence-prevention organization

formed by individuals who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook elementary school

shooting.

• Sandy Hook Promise trains youth and adults how to identify at-risk behaviors, intervene,

and get help before someone harms themselves or others.

• Sandy Hook Promise equips students to be upstanders when it comes to preventing

violence in their school and communities.



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About You and Your Connection to the Issue

• I am a student and a member of Sandy Hook Promise’s Students Against Violence

Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Clubs. I urge the state legislature to:

o Support violence prevention education to increase school safety.

o Support violence prevention education that gives us the skills and platform to be

proactive when it comes to keeping our school communities safe.

o Make sure schools have access to Sandy Hook Promise’s violence prevention

programs to help combat social isolation and emphasize the importance of

speaking up when someone is at-risk of hurting themselves or others.

Letter Outline

1. Introduce Yourself – include your abbreviated elevator speech about SAVE Promise

Clubs.

2. Identify the issue you are addressing – school safety, violence prevention.

3. State your proposal or solution – Support Bill #___ to ensure students in my community

gain access to no-cost violence prevention programs.

4. Closing and restating your purpose – close your letter with a statement of impact –

Giving students access to violence prevention training simultaneously teaches them to

be leaders and increases school safety.

Exemplars: Sample Letters-to-the-Editors

Texas Sandy Hook Promise Leader Sara Te’s Letter-to-the Editor in The Statesman https://www.statesman.com/opinion/20190423/letters-to-editor-april-23-2019

Massachusetts Sandy Hook Promise Leader Susan Olshuff’s Letter-to-the-Editor in the Boston Globe https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/letters/2019/04/13/mass-lawmakers-offer-way-help-protect-students-from-gun-violence/FON33jaXQg3y4AzeCzDCCK/story.html

Examples of how Sandy Hook Promise Talks About Violence Prevention Education

Sandy Hook Promise Managing Director Mark Barden’s Op-Ed in the Texas Tribune:

Urgent Need for Violence Prevention in Texas

Natalie Barden’s Op-Ed in Teen Vogue:

Natalie Barden Op-Ed

https://www.statesman.com/opinion/20190423/letters-to-editor-april-23-2019

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/letters/2019/04/13/mass-lawmakers-offer-way-help-protect-students-from-gun-violence/FON33jaXQg3y4AzeCzDCCK/story.html

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/letters/2019/04/13/mass-lawmakers-offer-way-help-protect-students-from-gun-violence/FON33jaXQg3y4AzeCzDCCK/story.html

https://www.tribtalk.org/2019/04/03/urgent-need-for-school-violence-prevention-in-texas/

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/natalie-barden-sandy-hook-march-for-our-lives-gun-violence-op-ed

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Part 5

Engaging Lesson Plans for Meetings,

Events, or Peer-to-Peer Presentations

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Start With Hello Lesson Plans

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BEST PRACTICE ALERT!

Start With Hello on Skype Time: 2 SAVE Club Meetings

Inspired and Created by: Lauren Mechling, SAVE Advisor

Poland Local Schools in Youngstown, Ohio

Objectives

• Students acknowledge, discuss, and get real about the stereotypes, rivalries, competition, and mis-information they may have about other schools and districts in their own geographic region.

• Students create questions to start a dialogue with other schools and districts in their geographic region.

• Students make the best use of technology to interact and build connectedness with a larger community outside of their own building or campus.

Standard Alignment

Social Awareness: The ability to recognize school resources and supports. Relationship Building: The ability to establish and maintain relationships with diverse individuals and groups.


Key Takeaway According to SAVE Promise Club Advisor Lauren Mechling: “Students were able to say hello to someone within a 30-minute drive and learn that they look very similar, their classroom is very similar, and that they have similar interests. It helped to break down some long-standing stereotypes and biases that exist in our area. This is usually the case for many areas due to rivalries.”

Grade Levels: K - 12

SAVE Promise Clubs have been extremely savvy when it comes to using Social Media to promote Call To Action weeks and other SAVE Club events. Skype, Face Time, and Zoom are other technology tools to build bridges amongst schools, districts, and other SAVE Clubs in your local area.

School districts in the Poland, Ohio area have a long history of sports team rivalries and sometimes socialized on football fields and basketball courts, but like so many other regions in the country, never took the time to get to know one another and cultivate relationships and connectedness. There are many obstacles when trying to bring students and schools together in

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one location, such as time, transportation, and permission slips. Therefore, 12 innovative grades K – 9 teachers got together to lead a Skyping activity with various school districts in the Poland, Ohio area.

This activity helps with the sustainability of the Start With Hello message. For instance, one first grade and one fourth grade class in Poland, Ohio decided to go beyond the Skype sessions and continue being pen pals with the buddy classes that they Skyped.

See the sample flyer created by a school counselor for a suggested way to get the word out on your Skype initiative!

Activity

Today’s meeting will be about identifying the schools and/or districts your SAVE Club would like to connect with and get-to-know. A ‘Needs Assessment’ circle can help your SAVE Club determine which other schools would be the best ones to reach-out to and say “Hello!”

Needs assessment questions can include:

• Are there any issues regarding cross-town rivalries that are built on history and mis-information?

• What can our SAVE Club do to build more bridges between students across our community?

• What are we curious about when it comes to the other schools in the districts nearby?

• What do we think the other schools’ perceptions are of our student population, school, and community?

• Are there other SAVE Clubs we would like to connect with?

• Which schools in our area might be interested in starting a SAVE Promise Club? Spend the remaining meeting time to start working on an action plan for setting-up a Skype session with at least one school in your district or region that the SAVE Club decided they would like to connect to. As always, go through the proper channels, starting with the Advisor, to gain permission from the adult champions in each school who will help make the Skype session happen during school hours.

Closing and Promise Challenge!

To close this activity, thank all the SAVE Club members for their participation and willingness to share with an open-mind. Encourage all SAVE Club members to reach-out to students in other schools this week by starting with a simple “hello.”

Text, Video, and Lesson Extensions

Start a pen pal program after the initial Skype session just like this elementary SAVE Promise Club did!

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--SAMPLE--

Cultivating Connectedness in the Classroom and

the Greater Community

What: An exciting opportunity for your students to participate in a fun, educational

distance learning discussion to say “Hello” and cultivate a culture of connectedness and

kindness in your school and between communities. This year, we are planning to set-up

Skype with (number) of classrooms in our district and hope to expand our reach by

setting-up Skype “Hello” calls with ___________________________ (other SAVE Clubs,

different districts, schools in other states).

When: The Week of ____________________for approximately 30 minutes

Where: In the convenience of your own classroom

What you will need:

● A free skype account

● A web camera with a microphone

● Smart Board or a Projector/Screen

● A session agenda which may include: an icebreaker, an opportunity to share-out

and celebrate happenings in their own classrooms or schools, a way to continue

the “Hello” culture beyond the call).

How: If interested, please contact the following school

staff:_______________________________________________________________

In your email, include the day(s) and time(s) you are available to Skype during Start

With Hello Week, _____________________.

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What’s Your Hello Style?

Time: 15 minutes

Note to SAVE Promise Club Members This lesson should be delivered at a Promise Club meeting first. If your Club finds it to be a rewarding activity, it can then be delivered by your members to other classes and clubs.

Objectives: Students will practice stating different ways to “Say Hello” to each other.

Students will analyze their own perceptions, rituals, and habits about how they greet others.

Standard Alignment CASEL Competency: Relationship Skills

Students will engage in social activities to learn how to start healthy relationships with classmates by saying “hello”.

Mindful Minute Take a deep breath. Keeping your eyes open or closed, visualize yourself saying hello to the people in your life that you feel closest to. What does that look like? How does that feel? What facial expressions, mannerisms, physical movement and gestures do you make when you “Say Hello” to a close family member or friend?

Student Connector Mix-n-Mingle: A Mix-N-Mingle is an activity that can be done at any time during the school day with different prompts. The main objective is to get students interacting with one another in a time purposefully set aside for socializing and getting to know one another. For this Mix-N-Mingle, ask students to step away from their desks, roam about the classroom or another designated space in the school building and complete the following task:

• You have four minutes to approach at least ten classmates with a different and unique way to “Say Hello” each time. Think of as many ways that you can greet someone with a friendly “Hello” as possible.

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Activity Circle-Up!

After the Mix-N-Mingle, ask the class to sit or stand in a circle. If possible, have a talking piece on hand and use discussion norms set for your class. Facilitate a class discussion using the following question prompts:

• How did you feel doing this exercise? Nervous, excited, awkward, uncomfortable, enthusiastic?

• Share-out some ways that your classmates said “Hello” to you.

• What were some of the ways people said “Hello” to you today that you really enjoyed and made you feel happy, welcomed, and comfortable?

• Have you ever judged the way someone greeted you or others?

• Think about your family heritage and ethnicity. Do you think there are cultural differences in the ways people greet one another?

Closing and Promise Challenge To close-out the circle, thank students for their participation and open-mindedness during the Mix-N-Mingle. Leave students with a Promise Challenge to “Say Hello” and greet at least three new people in school this week.

Text and Video Extensions While sitting in the circle. Read and discuss the articles below about the cultural differences in greetings.

How People Greet Each Other Around the World (AFAR Magazine)

Quick Journal Write:

After thinking about and learning about how different cultures around the world greet each other, share the meaning your own personal greeting has to you and the people that you typically greet. What would happen if you changed your greeting? How would people react? Is there anything you would like to do to change your typical greeting?

https://www.afar.com/magazine/beyond-the-handshake-how-people-greet-each-other-around-the-world

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YAY’s! and HEY’s!

Time: 10 minutes Objectives

SAVE Promise Club members will learn a simple student connector activity for Club meetings and training sessions to hook the audience into the lesson and start building a community.

Standard Alignment

CASEL Competency: Relationship-Building: The ability to start healthy social engagement with other students using a connector icebreaker.


This is a simple connector for all grade-levels. It is a quick activity for SAVE Promise Club leaders to have in their toolbox when they teach other students Start With Hello or Say Something lessons or even conduct a training session for adults. Start a Yay! Hey! bulletin board so that the Yays! And Heys! can be a constant reminder to celebrate and acknowledge one another in your community. Use the attached handout to get the bulletin board started. Pair this activity with the SAVE-A-CHUNGA cheer and you will get the energy up in the room!

After this student connector, you can continue to conduct your presentation, training, or start the activity your SAVE Club has planned.

Student Connector

Invite students to sit or stand in a circle.

If the group knows each other, invite each student to share a Hey! and Yay! using these sentence starters:

HEY! I want to give a shout-out to_____________________ for helping me with____________.

HEY! I want to give a shout-out to_____________________for doing a great job on_________.

HEY! I want to give a shout-out to_____________________for reaching out to new students this week.

If the entire group doesn’t know each other, invite each student to share a Hey! and Yay! using these sentence starters:

HEY! My name is _______________________________.

YAY! I am proud of ____________________ for _________________________________________.

YAY! I am thankful for (name of student). He/she helped me this week.

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YAY! I want to congratulate________________________

For reaching-out and helping someone!

YAY! I am grateful for____________________________

For helping me this week!

HEY! I want to say

“Hello and Thanks” to ________________________

For encouraging me this week!

HEY! I want to give a shout-out to____________________

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It takes COURAGE to Say Hello!

Time: 5 minutes

Note to SAVE Promise Club Members

This lesson should be delivered at a SAVE Promise Club meeting first. If your SAVE Club finds it to be a rewarding activity, it can then be delivered by your members to other classes and clubs.

Objectives

Students will learn new ways to say “Hello” to each other in different Hello Styles.

Standard Alignment

CASEL Competency: Relationship Skills

Students will engage in social activities to learn how to start healthy relationships with classmates by saying “hello”.

Mindful Minute

Breathing is a good strategy to use when we feel awkward or uncomfortable about approaching someone. Mindful Schools, the Calm App, and Headspace are great resources for students who want to learn Mindful breathing strategies on their own. Select one of these breathing activities from Mindful Schools to start your lesson:

Anchor Hand: “Hold up the hand you don’t write with (the non-dominant hand), spread your fingers out wide. Use the index finger of the hand you use to write with and tune in to the tempo of your breath. Now trace each outspread finger in time with a full cycle of breath. Feel your tracing finger move up as you inhale, keep looking as your finger moves down the other side, and you exhale. When you get to the end of

your hand, your thumb or little finger, just reverse and keep on breathing and looking.”

Sphere Breathing: “Pretend you’re holding a large balloon in both hands, with relaxed elbows. When you inhale, gently pull your fingers apart so there’s plenty of space between your fingers. Feel that long cool inhale. As you exhale, slowly bring your fingers back to gently touch. After a few cycles of breath, close your eyes and notice if you can bring your fingers back precisely. This fun game can be challenging: each time might feel different. Stay curious!”

https://www.mindfulschools.org/inspiration/3-mindful-breathing-activities-class-transitions/

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Student Connector

Prior to the lesson, gather safe items that can be tossed around a circle: stuffed animals, tennis balls, stress balls, etc. The more items you gather, the longer the name game can go. Stand in a circle and demonstrate tossing one ball to another student by saying “Hello (Name)” and the person who receives the ball says, “Thank you (Name)” and then tosses it to a different person with the same greeting “Hello (Name).” This ball toss goes until everyone has had someone say “Hello” to them in the circle. Now, the game continues by starting the ball toss again, in the same order. Once the ball has been tossed twice, add another ball, then another one. The idea is to keep the ball moving and to build lots of energy in the room by getting everyone saying “Hello” to each other.

Activity

Watch a video about football coach Robert Mendez: Football Coach Robert Mendez California

Coach Robert Mendez states that when people greet him for the first time he says, “Hey, pound it.” And extends his right shoulder. As a group, discuss why Coach Mendez has developed his very own “Hello Style.”

Coach Mendez is very self-aware. He states that he can be intimidating or awkward to approach. Do you ever think you are viewed as intimidating or awkward to approach? Have you ever felt awkward about approaching someone?


Encourage SAVE Club members to use a new ‘Hello Style’ to reach-out to students in their school community that they don’t typically socialize with.


Schools across the country have produced very powerful videos with the Start With Hello message. If you have time and technology-availability, watch the following Burnett Middle School student-produced video and have a discussion about how your SAVE Promise Club could produce a video with a positive message: Burnett Middle School Start With Hello Video

https://youtu.be/lPlDvYIq2cU

https://youtu.be/OzMVHl4f13o

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What Happens After Hello?

Time: 1 meeting or 1 hour

Objectives

Student SAVE Club Members will practice using strategies to keep the conversation going after “Hello.” Students SAVE Club Members will generate a toolbox of new methods for continuing the conversation or relationship.

Standard Alignment

CASEL Competency: Relationship Skills Students will engage in social activities to learn how to build healthy relationships with peers by developing strategies to keep the conversation going after saying “hello”.

Student and Advisor Facilitator Notes

Bring your enthusiastic energy to this lesson! The more upbeat and positive you are, the more likely students will become engaged and excited to participate in the activities. When posing questions to the group, make sure you have your own answers and responses to model before facilitating the lesson. Be authentic, be real.

Mindful Minute

Take a deep breath. Keeping your eyes open or closed, think about being around one of your favorite people. It could be a friend, parent, grandparent, neighbor, cousin, teacher, SAVE Promise Club member, or a trusted adult in your life. Try to visualize being with that person now. What feelings come up for you? What activities are you doing? What are the qualities in that person that makes you want to hang out with them? After the Mindful Minute, the facilitator can ask: “Does anyone want to share how they feel when they are hanging-out with one of their favorite people? “ Allow time for sharing and follow-up with the question: “What are some of the activities you enjoy doing with your favorite people?” For a quick recap of the Mindful Minute the facilitator should share the following: “Most often, we feel comfortable, relaxed, at ease, happy, content, peaceful, joyful, safe, and inspired when we are with some of our favorite people. It is often the reason we keep wanting to hang-out with these people. Today, we are going to explore the feelings that arise when we start with “Hello” with someone we don’t know very well and then figure out how to move forward with a conversation or activity to keep the relationship going.”

Student Connectors

**Depending on the time, your Club can do one or both Student Connectors. Connector #1: Concentric Circles: HELLO, AND! Ask the group to form two concentric circles. You can have the participants count in 1’s and 2’s or A’s and B’s: the 1’s form the inside circle and the 2’s form the outside circle as an example. The inside and outside circles face each other so that each student on the inside circle is facing a partner on the outside circle. If there is an

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odd number, this will still work, but one person will get a ‘break’ each round. A round starts by giving the inside circle random icebreaker, getting-to-know your questions. The circle begins when the facilitator asks the inside circle to ask their question to their partner. This is a quick, speed-dating type of activity. After 10 seconds, the facilitator calls “Rotate”, and the OUTSIDE circle rotates one person clockwise. After a rotation call, the inside circle will ask their same question again, but to a new individual. After 3 minutes, have the inside circle give their questions to the outside circle and ask the inside circle to rotate this time. Sample questions include: Hello AND What’s something kind you did for someone recently? Hello AND What’s the best part of your week so far? Hello AND What’s a hobby or sport you enjoy? Hello AND How would you spend your ideal of a ‘perfect’ day? Hello AND What kind of music do you like? Favorite artist? Hello AND If you could have any meal tonight, what would it be? Hello AND What was the last movie that you saw? Hello AND What is something that you are good at? Hello AND If you had two free hours to do what you want today, what would you do? Hello AND What do you like to read? Hello AND If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be? Hello AND If our school got to choose a new Mascot, what would you choose?

Connector #2: Blobs: HELLO, AND! The objective of this break-the-ice activity is to get students to interact with one another in a fun, light way while identifying some things they have in common. When students get into their ‘blobs,’ each student in the blob will say “Hello AND the reason I like __________________________ (chocolate ice cream, mountains, Vans sneakers ) is….. It is best to create signs, small posters, or pre-written white boards with the selection items beforehand. This way, the facilitator lays the paper or white boards on the floor in the center of the circle. Students ‘grab’ the item they prefer or like best, and then students gather into ‘blobs’ around that student with the sign that says “ice cream” or “chips” and students begin discussing why they like that item the best. Each ‘blob’ round should be about 30 seconds, depending on the size of the blobs.

• Get into ‘blobs’ with students who like: ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, fruit, or chips for a snack.

• Get into ‘blobs’ with students who prefer: Country, City, Beach, Lakes, Mountains, Snow, Tropical, Autumn.

• Get into ‘blobs’ with students who enjoy: action/adventure, romance, comedy, drama, or horror films.

• Get into ‘blobs’ with students who prefer: Jordan’s, Vans, Slides, Timberlands, or Running Shoes.

• Get into ‘blobs’ with students who choose: Shopping, Sports, Movies, or Video Games.

• Get into ‘blobs’ with students who prefer: Math, Science, English, or Social Studies.

• Get into ‘blobs’ with students who prefer: Alone time, Being with friends, or Spending time with family.

• Get into ‘blobs’ with students who: love to be on the dance floor or love to hang-out and chill friends while watching others on the dance floor.

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Activity

Step 1: Emotion Check-In As students form a circle (standing or sitting), students can locate their feelings on a Mood Meter or share-out how they felt during and after the student connector icebreakers.

Step 2 Hook: What Happens After Hello Video If you have access to an LCD projector or computer, show one or both quick videos. Each video is about social isolation in the cafeteria and how a simple “Hello” can really change someone’s school experience. Set-up the video by stating: “Let’s view this brief video that highlights how a simple “Hello” can have a powerful impact and long-term effects on someone’s life.” What Can Happen After "Hello" (1:46) Football Star Sits With Beau at Lunch

Step 3: Circe-Up! The icebreakers and video are demonstrations that what happens after “Hello” can be extremely impactful. Give the students positive reinforcement for participating in the activities thus far: “So, everyone said “Hello” and it may have been a bit uncomfortable or awkward at first, but you all did it! Then, you used some break-the-ice type questions and topics that can be used with someone after you say “Hello.” After watching the video, we can all see how sometimes continuing that conversation after you Start With Hello can make a positive difference.” Now, we are going to explore some other ways to continue the conversation once “Hello” has been established. Make sure each person in the circle has a ‘You Said Hello…Now What?’ handout. Use a talking piece and ask students to volunteer to read the strategy and then answer the following questions as a large group:

• Have you used this strategy?

• If yes, did it work?

• Is this strategy realistic in an Elementary, Middle, or High School level?

Step 4: Role Plays Ask students to put the strategies to the test and practice using them with some role plays. Invite students to work in groups of 4 or 5 to review and act-out the provided role plays. This activity can run between 5 and 15 minutes, depending on how much time you have. If you have extended time, each group can get multiple role plays, or, present their ‘skit’ to the larger group.

Step 5: Group Brainstorm Thank the group for their input and then start a brainstorming session. Ask student volunteers to write down the responses to the following questions on flip-chart paper or a white board:

• What other methods and strategies are missing from this list?

• How can you teach other students to use these strategies?

• How can you make it ‘cool’ and acceptable in your school community to use these strategies?

• What are some ways you can get outside of your comfort zone, say “Hello” to new students, and then continue the conversation or even build a friendship?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtZRV-IHOc

https://youtu.be/yfz4nb31KXs

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As a Promise Challenge, have your SAVE Promise Club make a short video that demonstrates and models some strategies to use after saying “Hello.” Share the video with Sandy Hook Promise and ask your Club Advisor and Principal if the video can be shown in Advisory, Social Studies, or another class period during Start With Hello week.


Elementary School Girls: Check-out this article for ways to help younger girls connect to one another How to make healthy friendships Boys of all ages: Video Games are a popular way for boys of all ethnicities to develop friendships: Check-out the research by Pew Research Center Video Games are Key Elements for Friendships High Schoolers, want better ways on how to keep a conversation going? Check out this Ted Talk 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation. It’s for the workplace but can easily be adapted to a school setting! Great examples of PSA’s for High School and College-Level: Still uncomfortable about initiating with “Hello” and want to get over the ‘awkward’ moment of asking someone about their mental health? Look at these JED Foundation videos produced by the Ad Council: Seize the Awkward

https://www.girlscouts.org/en/raising-girls/happy-and-healthy/friendship/how-to-make-friends.html

https://www.girlscouts.org/en/raising-girls/happy-and-healthy/friendship/how-to-make-friends.html

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/06/chapter-3-video-games-are-key-elements-in-friendships-for-many-boys/

https://www.ted.com/talks/celeste_headlee_10_ways_to_have_a_better_conversation?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

https://www.ted.com/talks/celeste_headlee_10_ways_to_have_a_better_conversation?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

https://seizetheawkward.org/

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You said “Hello”………Now what?

Strategy Sample Suggested Use and Tips

Give an invitation “I’m headed to lunch, want to join me?” Make sure you don’t put someone on the spot or embarrass them in front of other students.

Give a genuine compliment

“Nice sneakers.” “I’ve seen your artwork, it’s nice.”

As you know, don’t be fake!

Use proximity control Sit side-by-side with the student If a student seems down or left out of an activity, this can be a useful strategy. However, if the student seems angry, agitated, or irate, this may be a body language signal that is saying “I need my space.” Don’t use proximity control in this case.

Share a funny or favorite picture from your phone

“Check-out this funny cat meme!” “Have you seen this new Emoji?”

Don’t get into trouble in the middle of class by taking your phone out, be sensible and make sure it’s an appropriate time to use technology.

Ask a question Light – What do you think about this weather? Tough loss for our football team, huh? Medium – Do you mind if I sit or walk with you? Heavy -ish – What happened? Do you need any help? Need someone to talk to?

There are different levels and types of questions. When initially approaching someone new, it is important to begin with lighter questions.

Share a small gift “Would you like a piece of gum?” A ‘gift’ can be a gesture that indicates you acknowledge the person who might be alone and are offering a small gesture.

Connect with ‘pop culture’

“Did you see the Marvel movie?” “Have you heard the new Camila song?”

Sometimes ‘close-ended’ questions are roadblocks to communication. If you don’t get any elaboration. Just say a quick, “Cool! I like that movie too.”

Tell a quick, corny joke. “What do you call a group of unorganized cats? Punchline: A CAT-astrophe!” “What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Punchline: Frostbite.” “Why was the leopard so bad at playing hide-n-seek? Punchline: Because he was spotted.” “What starts with an ‘E’ ends with an ‘E’ and only has one letter in it? Punchline: Envelope.

Telling jokes isn’t for everyone. However, telling a quick, corny joke is an easy icebreaker and can be a great way to share a laugh over how funny, or bad, the joke is. Make sure it is unoffensive.

Invite to play a hand game

“Want to play rock-paper-scissors?” This is a strategy to use if the person alone doesn’t seem overly upset. If the student declines and says “No,” you can ask if they have any other games they like to play or state something like: “OK, no problem. I’ll catch-up with you tomorrow.”

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HELLO AND…….Concentric Circle Questions Grades 6 - 12 (Can be printed and cut-out to distribute to students in the inner-circle)

HELLO AND What’s something nice you did for someone recently?

HELLO AND What’s the best part of your week so far?

HELLO AND If you could eat any meal tonight for dinner, what would it be?

HELLO AND If a movie was made featuring YOU, what would the title of the movie be?

HELLO AND How do you like to help other people?

HELLO AND Describe a time that you needed help.

HELLO AND Which do you prefer: playing video games, watching Netflix, playing sports, reading a book, or hanging-out with friends?

HELLO AND Who do you believe looks up to you?

HELLO AND Who is someone you look up to?

HELLO AND Who is someone you trust?

HELLO AND What’s something nice that someone has done for you lately?

HELLO AND How can a friend brighten up your day a little bit?

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HELLO AND If you’re feeling down, what are some things you do to lift yourself up?

HELLO AND What is something someone said to you recently that made you smile?

HELLO AND Which class do you feel most confident and comfortable in?

HELLO AND What 3 items would you bring if you were told you would be dropped off on a stranded island for a month?

HELLO AND What makes you feel the most awkward?

HELLO AND What is a talent that you have?

HELLO AND If you could be any cartoon character, who would it be?

HELLO AND What’s your favorite holiday?

HELLO AND If you got to create your own candy bar, what would it be made of and what would you call it?

HELLO AND If I could give you a roundtrip airfare ticket to anywhere, where would

it be and why?

HELLO AND What’s your favorite way to say “Hi” to someone?

HELLO AND What’s the best superpower to have? Why?

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HELLO AND What does it ‘look like’ when you are your BEST or TRUE SELF?

HELLO AND If you could have any special superpower, what would it be? Why?

HELLO AND What emoji would you use right now to describe how you’re feeling?

HELLO AND Think about a time when someone did something nice for you, what was it and how did you feel?

HELLO AND If you’re going to eat rice for dinner tonight, what do you want to go with it?

HELLO AND If our school got to choose a new Mascot, what would you want it to

be?

HELLO AND If a new constellation was discovered in the sky, what would you name it?

HELLO AND What’s the last movie you watched?

HELLO AND Which time of the day is your favorite?

HELLO AND If you go to an amusement park, what would want to do first?

HELLO AND When do you feel like you are your “best self?”

HELLO AND How do you spend Sunday afternoons?

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What Happens After “Hello” ROLE PLAYS

ROLE PLAY #1

The marking period is coming to an end and you procrastinated on some

assignments. You have been going to the library all week during lunch to get an

essay done for English class. By Thursday, you notice the same girl sitting alone in

the same spot every day. She seems to be drawing in a journal. Each day, you

enter the library, sign-in, sit at a computer, and start typing. You see the girl in

the same place as you enter and when you leave. You walk out the library door

on Thursday, hesitate, and walk right back in. You walk up to the girl and say

“Hello.” Now what do you do?

ROLE PLAY #2

The weather has been nice lately! Instead of heading straight home, you and

some friends have been hanging out in the outdoor school courtyard playing

cards, passing around a soccer ball, and just enjoying the sunshine. This has been

happening for over a week. For three days in a row, you and your friends see a

boy sitting on a bench with his backpack. He usually appears when you are in the

middle of the game but is still on that bench when you and your friends start to

head home. On day three, you and a close friend approach the boy and start with

“Hello.” How should you proceed? What should you do next?

ROLE PLAY #3

It's that time of year! End-of-the-year BBQ’s, Quinceañera’s, school dances or

proms, pool parties, graduation parties, and free time to hang-out with friends at

the mall or the park. You get to school early on Monday and go straight to your

homeroom. When you walk into the classroom, you see a girl who seems sad.

Her head is down on the desk. You think she could be tired, but when you say,

“Good Morning!” you get no response. You’ve only seen the student in

homeroom and occasionally pass her in the hallway. What could you do next?

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ROLE PLAY #4

Your teacher introduces a new student to the class. It’s April and you and your

classmates have already created quite a bond. As the day goes on, you notice the

new student is walking to class alone, sitting at lunch alone, and working

independently on what was assigned as a group project. As you are working with

your group, you decide it’s time to take the first step, walk up to the new student,

and say “Hello.” What can you do next?

ROLE PLAY #5

It’s gym time, your favorite! Students in your class rush onto the basketball court

and start playing tag, basketball, and volleyball. The gym is mad chaos and you

love it! This is where you shine. About 10 minutes into gym you go to the water

fountain and you notice a single student sitting on the bleachers totally alone.

You don’t know the student’s name but recognize the person’s face. How could

you handle this situation? You only have 20 minutes left of gym, and it’s your

favorite time of day, but you have an internal conflict.

ROLE PLAY #6

There’s a girl who always sits by herself at lunch with ear buds in. You assume she

just likes listening to her music. One day, you realize that she is always sitting at

the same table alone. What can you do in this situation?

ROLE PLAY #7

Your SAVE Club meets twice per month. You have a close group of student

leaders. During this week’s meeting, one of the student leaders mentions that he

is concerned your Club isn’t recruiting new members frequently enough. You

decide to go on a recruitment campaign and say “Hello” to as many students in

your school community as possible. After “Hello,” what else can you do to make

students feel welcomed to the SAVE Promise Club?

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ROLE PLAY #8

There’s a boy that is in all your classes. You don’t know his name and leave him

alone because when the teacher isn’t talking, he just plays video games.

Sometimes you see him playing video games in the stairwell during hallway

passing time and other times you witness him playing video games outside before

school starts. What could you do in this situation?

ROLE PLAY #9 Write your own role play!

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ROLE PLAY #10 Write your own role play!

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Cut these strips of paper-out to use as the categories for your ‘Blob’ activity.

Handshake Fist Bump

Hug High Five Jordans

Vans Slides

Timberlands Running Shoes/

Joggers Alone Time

Hanging-Out with Friends Spending Time With Family

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Wrist Band Conversation Starters

Time: 1 Club Meeting

Inspired and Created by:

Chapel Hill High School, North Carolina

Objectives

SAVE Promise Club student leaders will create and distribute Start With Hello conversation starter bracelets for the school community.

Standard Alignment

Relationship Building: The ability to start and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships using conversation starters.


Grade Levels: 3 - 12

Create conversation starter bracelets to distribute during Start With Hello Call To Action week. SAVE Club members can use ribbons, strips of heavy-duty paper, or purchase concert bracelets. Write conversation starters on the bracelets, distribute them to as many students as possible, and challenge students to use their conversation starters all-day long to as many students as possible. Fun conversation starters can include:

• Hi! What’s the best movie you’ve seen lately?

• Video games, reading a book, or playing a sport, which do you like best?

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• Hello, what are you up to afterschool today?

• Hey! If you had 2 free hours today, how would you spend it?

• Which Emoji best represents your mood today?

• Do you prefer to spend time indoors or outdoors?

• Which activities do you like to do? This activity is intended for all age-groups and can be completely student-led.

Supplies Needed:

✓ Signs to advertise your bracelet initiative. ✓ Permanent Markers. ✓ Paper wrist bands.

A 500 pack of multi-colored concert bracelets sells for about $10.00 on Amazon. Otherwise, your Club can use wide ribbon that can be written on. Donorschoose.org is a great place to post your Start With Hello projects and resources needed.

Activity

Ask SAVE Club members to form a circle. Inform the group that the day’s meeting task is to create an action plan for the Start With Hello conversation starter bracelet activity. Show students the provided pictures at Chapel Hill High School. Ask one student leader to write down the group’s action plan on a white board, flip-chart paper, or poster paper that can be displayed in an area of your meeting space or classroom where SAVE Club members can revisit and review it.

• Use the project action plan as a guide for outlining this activity school-wide. Think about these questions: When is your SAVE Club going to distribute the bracelets?

• Where will the bracelets be distributed?

• Who is responsible for giving-out the bracelets?

• What do we hope to accomplish with this Start With Hello activity?

Activate Your Action Plan!

Start working on posters to display around the school to advertise the Start With Hello bracelet initiative. Don’t forget to engage the adult champions in the building including, but not limited to, bus drivers, security guards, cafeteria staff, and coaches.

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To close this activity, thank SAVE Club members for participation and remind the group to reach-out to students who may be feeling isolated or excluded by offering a bracelet and using one of your conversation starters. As a Promise Challenge, each SAVE Club member should commit to reaching at least 10 students with their bracelets that they have never had the opportunity to get-to-know.

Community-Wide Opportunities

Why not get the local community involved? Have your SAVE Promise Clubs get the word out to local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community members about Start With Hello week. Encourage community-wide participation by distributing these sentence starter bracelets around town. Think of the possibilities! Your SAVE Club can have adults at the local coffee shop, gas stations, Senior housing facilities, and recreational sports leagues using your SAVE Club-created bracelets and starting up conversations with each other.


The conversation can keep going in the classroom! Encourage your Social Studies teachers to plan activities that engage students in dialogue and discussions. The Teaching Channel has many videos to inspire teachers to include discussion-focused lessons like fishbowls or Socratic or Paideia Seminars in everyday lessons. Check-out what students have to say in this ‘Civic Discussion’ training video. Students give some great insight on the power of class discussion while providing advice to teachers at 4:48. https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/student-centered-civic-discussion-deliberation

While your Club is distributing the conversation starter bracelets, teachers can display conversation starters and tips on ‘tents’ to keep the academic discussion going. The discussion ‘tents’ can be displayed on desks, tables, or even in the cafeteria.

https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/student-centered-civic-discussion-deliberation

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Say Something Lesson Plans

Amos Alonzo Stagg High School, Illinois

Student-created banner from

Pleasant Valley Middle School, Illinois

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You Can Trust Me!

Time: 2 Club Meetings

Inspired and Created by:

Kennebunk High School (Maine) SAVE Promise Club &

Advisors Sue Donaher and Beth Keezer

Objectives

Students will engage and encourage Trusted Adults in the school community to step forward and pledge their trustworthiness when students reach-out to them for help.

Adults will share why they can be trusted on a ‘You can Trust me because….’ banner.

Standard Alignment

Social Awareness: The ability to recognize school resources and supports.

Relationship Building: An understanding of who to approach and how to seek help when needed.


Grade Levels: K - 12

Special Note from Kennebunk High School:

“The Kennebunk SAVE Promise Clubs came-up with this activity after SAVE Promise Club students informed the SAVE Advisors Sue Donaher and Beth Keezer that

students in the school weren’t always sure if all the adults in the school wanted to help them. When the SAVE Advisors tried to reassure the students that all the

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adults were, in fact and certainly there for them, the students asked “How are we supposed to know? How do we know who, exactly wants to be trusted?” This led to a SAVE Club brainstorm on how to make everyone aware. Our SAVE Club came up with a banner for all to sign, and all to see! The students also created a banner for

students to sign, because they want to demonstrate that they are there for each other as well.”

For today’s meeting, your SAVE Club may decide to focus on creating the banner depending on how much time you have. It is up to your SAVE Club how much or how little of this lesson activity you decide to complete!

Mindful Minute

The Mindful Minute is intended to give your SAVE Promise Club members an opportunity to leave behind the stressors of the day and be present. It is a moment dedicated to ‘pushing-aside’ any thoughts that might be creating some worry and anxiety and, instead, become absorbed into the SAVE Promise Club meeting. It is a chance to be fully present with the SAVE Promise Club members and enjoy everyone’s company and companionship.

For today’s Mindful Minute, consider having student think about the word ‘trust’ and visualize someone in their own life that they trust. The facilitator can then share a Loving-Kindness Meditation that students may recite for the identified trusted person in their life. A student leader should write these sentences on the board, so students can refer to them as they silently repeat this Loving-Kindness Meditation with the trusted person in mind. Or, students can copy the statements on a small piece of paper that can be folded and placed in their wallet or purse for a time when they feel like sending Loving-Kindness messages to someone.

Just as I wish to, may you be safe, may you be healthy, may you live with ease and happiness. Just as I wish to, may you be safe, may you be healthy, may you live with ease and happiness. Just as I wish to, may you be safe, may you be healthy, may you live with ease and happiness.

**This Loving-Kindness Meditation is taken from the Mindful Magazine website: https://www.mindful.org/a-loving-kindness-meditation-to-boost-compassion/

If it is easier, you can play a Loving-Kindness Meditation from a cell phone or computer. An example for youth can be found here: Mindfulness for Children and there are many more options to choose from online or on the Calm App.

https://www.mindful.org/a-loving-kindness-meditation-to-boost-compassion/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIEcztQuyE8

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Student Connector

Note: There are two options for the Student Trust Connectors. Please be mindful of students who may not physically be able to ‘jump’ or move from rock-to-rock in the Crossing the River activity. In this case, the Trust Scavenger Hunt will be a great option and achieves the same results.

Option #1: Crossing the River

Using ‘trust’ as today’s meeting theme, it is a perfect opportunity for your club to conduct a trust connector. For this activity, you will need the following items:

• Any scrap paper or cardboard pieces that are cut into shapes of rocks and boulders.

• Any fabric cut into strips, old ties, or eye masks to use as blindfolds.

To start the activity, use chalk or string to outline a river running through your meeting space. Next, scatter the ‘rocks’ throughout the river. The rocks need to be close enough for students to jump, hop, or leap from rock-to-rock. The object of the activity is to work in pairs, as a team, to walk the length of the river without falling-in. Use your imaginations! Tell the SAVE Club members that there are Alligators, poisonous snakes, and Barracudas in the river and any slip could be dangerous.

Here’s how it works. Divide the group into pairs. One student wears the blindfold and the other is the guide. The guide is to use effective communication to help their partner navigate the river and get to the other end of the river quickly and safely. Pairs also need to avoid bumping into other students as they are navigating the river at the same time.

Option #2: Trust Scavenger Hunt

For this activity you will need:

• Candy that needs to be unwrapped, such as Starburst.

• Plastic cups

• Sneakers or shoes with laces.

• Scrap paper

Ask the Advisor to serve as the ‘Judge.’ Pair-up SAVE Club members. If there’s an odd number, a group of 3 will work just fine. Write down the four tasks for the Trust Scavenger Hunt on the board. Pairs will work together to complete all ‘tasks’ together using strong communication skills and trust! The Blindfolded partner is doing the tasks while the non-blindfolded partner is providing guidance and giving instructions. The Advisor/Judge stays in one centralized location where pairs can drop-off the items for the Scavenger

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Hunt. Feel free to add your own Scavenger Hunt tasks if you have the time! Remember, it’s not about ‘winning,’ but about building trust in your SAVE Promise Club community.

1. Take a plastic cup, find a water fountain, fill the cup halfway with water, and give it to the Advisor/Judge.

2. Unwrap 3 pieces of candy and bring the candy to the Advisor/Judge. 3. Untie and then tie one sneaker or shoe and give it to the Advisor/Judge. 4. Fold one piece of paper into a paper airplane, fly it to make sure it flies successfully, and bring it to

the Advisor/Judge.

Activity

Form a seated or standing circle after the Student Connector activity and have a talking piece available. Prior to the meeting, decide upon who will deliver the instruction portion of this activity. Review the SAVE Promise Club’s meeting norms, guidelines, or charter before launching into the main topic of the day.

This SAVE Promise Club Circle will be focused on the following questions:

• Who are the different types of Trusted Adults in your school community?

• Why does our SAVE Club feel a ‘You Can Trust Me Because’ banner is needed?

• What supplies do we need for our ‘You Can Trust Me’ banner?

• Where should we display the banner?

• Who do we need to obtain permission from to conduct this activity and display the banner?

• How will we communicate to adults across the school community to sign the banner?

• How are we going to divide the tasks amongst the members of our Club?

• What is our time frame for completing the banner?

• What questions do we have for our Advisor about this banner? Once the tasks are divided, SAVE Club members can launch the activity! If possible, display a ‘task list’ in your Advisor’s classroom or SAVE Promise Club office so that as students complete tasks, they can check it off for other members to see.


To close this activity, share some words of gratitude and encouragement with one another for all your dedication to the SAVE Promise Club. You may also want to consider asking each SAVE Club member to share out the names of at least two Trusted Adults in the building that they will inform about the banner and encourage to sign the banner.


Think about setting-up a Trusted Adult training for the adult champions who signed your banner. Sandy Hook Promise has developed a Power Point presentation and presentation script for the training which can be found in this toolkit.

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A Trusted Adult from Olde Towne Middle School, Mississippi

Tuscola High School, Waynesville, North Carolina

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Spoken Word is Magical

Time: 2 Club Meetings Objectives

Students will learn about the power of Spoken Word poetry to activate and motivate others to help promote a safe and inclusive school community.

SAVE Promise Clubs will create their own spoken word poetry to inspire peers in their school community to Say Something, Start With Hello, or become involved in SAVE Promise Club initiatives.

Standard Alignment

Self-Awareness: To develop the confidence to convey one’s emotions, thoughts, and values through spoken word or song.

Social Awareness: The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, especially of diverse backgrounds.

Relationship Building: The ability to communicate clearly, listen well, and cooperate with others.


Grade Levels: 6 – 12 (with modifications for Elementary School)

This activity will require more than one SAVE Promise Club meeting. Depending on how often your SAVE Club meets, one suggestion is to do steps #1 - #3 in 30 minutes and then create the collaborative Spoken Word piece during the following meeting. Another suggestion is to set-up a shareable Google Doc where SAVE members can add to the Spoken Word piece between meetings and use it as a springboard for generating thoughts and ideas for the Spoken Word poem.

This ‘Engage’ activity can be taught and revisited throughout the year by your SAVE Promise Clubs. Your SAVE Club may want to create one Spoken Work poem that captures the main themes addressed in the Sandy Hook Promise’s Know The Signs programs: social isolation, inclusiveness, reaching-out to help, looking out for one another in the community, and preventing violence. Or, you may want to highlight a specific issue that is plaguing or affecting your school community. Whichever focus your SAVE Club chooses, make sure that the Spoken Word captivates and inspires the members of your school to get involved in your SAVE Club’s efforts and become part of the solution to the issues addressed.

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Be genuine, be authentic, be real. Spoken Word does not need to be completely polished. Some of the best work is created when it spurs from an open heart.

Mindful Minute

The Mindful Minute is intended to get your SAVE Promise Club members to leave behind the stressors of the day and be present. It is an opportunity to ‘push-aside’ any thoughts that might be creating some worry and anxiety and, instead, become absorbed into the SAVE Promise Club meeting. It is a chance to be in the moment with the SAVE Promise Club members and enjoy everyone’s company and companionship.

For today’s lesson, it may be useful to conduct some simple Mindful breathing exercises or positive affirmations that can help reduce feelings of nervousness and anxiousness prior to performing Spoken Word or conducting any other public speaking. Students can recite one of these ‘mantras’ or positive affirmations quietly or aloud two-to-three times for practice. Regardless of which one you select, make sure you are breathing intentionally.

One, I inhale through my nose

Two, I fill my lungs with oxygen

Three, I exhale through my mouth

Here I stand.

Rooted in the Ground.

I am strong/invincible/dynamic/confident/capable.

There are so many resources on how Mindfulness helps performers and athletes. If your SAVE Club has time, you can view this 3:35 YouTube video that highlights some well-known celebrities and how Mindfulness Meditation helps them: https://youtu.be/up3MZuYkf-g

Student Connector

Today’s student connector should get the creative energy flowing. Prior to the meeting, cut one-inch strips of colorful construction paper. As students enter the meeting, give each student a strip of paper and ask them to write down a memory in one sentence or a time they felt inspired in one sentence on the strip of paper. When students are finished, ask them to work together to tape or staple the strips of paper with the sentences together to form links. The sentence must be easy-to-read or legible. When all students

https://youtu.be/up3MZuYkf-g

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have connected their links, the Club should have a complete circle. At this time, Circle-up and have each student read one link. If possible, ask that everyone reads a link that is not their own. After reading the links once, ask for one more reading, but encourage the students to put as much emotion and emphasis onto their sentences as possible. After the second reading, thank the group for writing an original Spoken Word poem so quickly!

Activity

Stay in the circle after the Student Connector activity. Whether the circle is seated or standing, have a talking piece available. Prior to the meeting, decide upon who will deliver the instruction portion of this activity. Review the SAVE Promise Club’s meeting norms, guidelines, or charter before launching into the main topic of the day.

Introduce and review some examples of Spoken Word poetry. Spoken Word poetry requires a lot of emotion and attitude, so that when it is performed, it has a big impact! It involves word flow, rhythm, and rhymes. However, there is no prescribed ‘structure,’ so SAVE Clubs can write a free-flow poem that they feel will create an emotional connection with their audience. Slam poetry has even more feeling and emotion. During your circle meeting time, review a few examples of Spoken Word and Slam Poetry and reflect on the performances as a club. As you view the videos think about these questions:

• How does the performance make you feel?

• Is there a call-to-action in the Spoken Word piece?

• What direction does our SAVE Club want to take with its own Spoken Word poem? Do we want to perform as a group? Do we want to do individual performances?

Middle and High School Students

Listen to, view, and follow along with this original spoken word poem: Say Something.

Erika Newman, Sandy Hook Promise School Outreach Coordinator Performs this original piece with SAVE Promise Club Youth Advisory Board Members.

Say Something Spoken Word Poem

High School

• Titus Dean Beard, student from Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center in Ohio, is a Sandy Hook Promise Start With Hello Student Voices Award Winner 2019. He wrote and performed an original Spoken Word piece that can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/XIT-EJo9saA

• National Poetry Slam Contest Finalists (Group Performance) https://youtu.be/D7KbOQoAJec

https://youtu.be/xyTTy54SOEI

https://youtu.be/XIT-EJo9saA

https://youtu.be/D7KbOQoAJec

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Middle School

7th Grade Student Olivia Vella’s Spoken Word that went viral: “Why Am I Not Good Enough?”

https://youtu.be/Eu_Gl0woeOw

Elementary

It’s not a Spoken Word poem, but a Rap song written and performed by Start With Hello Student Voices award winner Alison Kloehn from Mary Bryant Elementary School in Tampa, Florida https://youtu.be/XIT-EJo9saA

Brainstorming, Writing, and Performing Your SAVE Promise Club’s Spoken Word

Hopefully, the Spoken Word poetry examples inspired your SAVE Club and provided some ideas for creating your own poem. Challenge your SAVE Promise Club to create a Spoken Word piece that is woven together with ideas generated by the entire group so that it represents the viewpoints, diversity, and personalities of all SAVE Club members. To start this section, ask your group to select a theme or focus are for the Spoken Word poem. A few suggested themes are provided on attached planning guide and outline.

Once your SAVE Club decides on a theme, the SAVE Club can use the provided guideline and outline for writing a Spoken Word piece, or, use whiteboards, journals, and scrap paper just to get your thoughts, feelings, and ideas down on paper. Give group members 2 minutes for a free write to write down whatever comes to mind when they hear the theme. If group members do not enjoy writing, give them the option to draw what comes to mind when they hear the theme. After two minutes, students can then share what they wrote down or drew with the larger group. The group can then discuss which ‘seeds’ of writing or drawings presented by members can set the foundation for the SAVE Club’s own, original Spoken Word poem.

Ask one SAVE Club member to type or write your group’s poem down. Practice reciting the poem as a group. There are some Apps that have the capability to ‘scroll’ your poem in a teleprompter style to help you get familiar and comfortable with the poem before it is memorized.

Develop a plan for where and when your SAVE Club will recite this Spoken Word. If you have a school broadcasting system, you could recite the poem over morning announcements or broadcasts. If you have a homeroom or Advisory, ask the teachers if

https://youtu.be/Eu_Gl0woeOw

https://youtu.be/XIT-EJo9saA

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your SAVE Club can present the Spoken Word and inform classes about SAVE Promise Clubs. Some schools host Club and Activity Fairs. These types of events are great platforms for your SAVE Club to use innovative ways, like Spoken Word poetry, to capture students’ attentions and get them interested in all the dynamic work your SAVE Club is doing.


To close this activity, have your entire SAVE Club recite the Spoken Word creation in unison. Celebrate your SAVE Club’s work Poetry Slam style – with finger snaps!

As a Promise Challenge, host a school-wide or district-wide Poetry Slam! Give students a theme related to Start With Hello, Say Something, and the vision of SAVE Promise Clubs and have them enter and perform original Spoken Word poetry at your SAVE Club’s poetry slam. Host the Poetry Slam in a school’s auditorium, Black Box Theater, cafeteria, or ask English teachers to host the Slam during English classes. Reach-out to any local colleges or universities that have Poetry Clubs and invite them to perform as your special guests.

Interested in the five steps to becoming a slam poet? Watch this TED Ed video: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/become-a-slam-poet-in-five-steps-gayle-danley#watch


Watch any of Sarah Kay’s Spoken Word performances on YouTube, or, take the time to view her TED Talk from 2011: https://youtu.be/kqCMHcdYR_E.

Create your own Spoken Word poetry and send them to Sandy Hook Promise to share with other SAVE Promise Clubs. Email: [email protected] or

[email protected] with attachments to your original work and videos.

After the SAVE Club has produced its own Spoken Word poetry, have some of your student leaders teach this lesson to other clubs, classes, or younger students. Speak to the Principal and your Advisor about how to obtain permission to run this lesson with other students.

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/become-a-slam-poet-in-five-steps-gayle-danley#watch

https://youtu.be/kqCMHcdYR_E



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Say Something

By: Erika Newman

Sandy Hook Promise

Say something not because it’s what I tell you to do

Say Something ‘cause it’s the right thing to do

Say something because it’s what you really want to do.

I look in your eyes and already know the many things that have been transcribed and

etched into your beautiful young minds.

It isn’t easy to forget the violence that you see

or pretend it doesn’t affect you and it’s all just easy

To manage your emotions,

To keep them in check

Often times using walls and false bravado to hide the lies.

The lies we tell ourselves to get through the day

I know because I was born and raised on the southside of Chicago right here

Not far from where we stand today.

I walked around afraid most days.

The bullies, the bullets,

The taunting, the shoving,

The fighting, the gang banging…

The wanting…

Wanting to understand why if we are raised being hurt why do we turn around and do

the same?

Why is my 1st instinct to yell and scream and make you feel like you’re wrong and dirt

and less than ok?

Why do I stay silent?

Why do I let fear hold me back?

Why do I need your approval?

It’s a cycle you see

It keeps us trapped because if one of us breaks free that unlocks the chance

That the one may be singled out and brought back into the fold

To be chastised and punished for daring to think…for daring to speak…

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Or maybe just maybe it takes just one to Say Something to give all the rest of us a

chance to see below this fragile veneer we don’t have to live our lives always in fear.

The street is where I was raised but my spirit dared to dream.

I wanted a better world.

A place I could live free.

The battles were many.

The scars still real.

They beat me down with their fists but I rose with my own power.

Words to Say Something and create that better tomorrow.

My tomorrow has come, it is here today.

I stand here before you telling you, there is a better way.

You can dream.

You can be.

You can choose to Say Something and stand with me.

Say something not because it’s what I tell you to do

Say Something ‘cause it’s the right thing to do

Say something because it is what you really want to do.

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Spoken Word Poetry

Planning Guide & Outline for Your SAVE Promise Club

1. What is the CORE TOPIC/ISSUE/MOMENT we want to inform our school community

about? (See below for some sample themes and topics)

Join SAVE and Be the Change You Want To

See

Looking Out for One Another, Including One

Another

The importance of Saying Something

How to Say Hello

What Happens After Hello

Building Bridges In Our School Community,

Breaking Down Walls

Making Threats to Harm Oneself or Others

Isn’t a Joke

Thinking Outside the Box when it comes to

school safety

Trusted Adults

Our Own Topic: _______________________________________________

2. What are some words or phrases you want to emphasize?

_____________________________ ___________________________

_____________________________ ___________________________

_____________________________ ___________________________

3. Who is the audience(s) we are speaking to in this poem? Who do we want to get our

message across to?

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

4. What is the STORY you want to tell in this poetry?

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

5. What FEELINGS do you want to evoke in this poetry (Add your own)?

Eager

Emboldened

Passionate

Inspired

Joyful

Agitated

Urgent

Motivated

Frustrated

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Guided Outline for Spoken Word Poetry

1. The ‘hook’ or repeated phrase(s) or stanza.

2. An important line/phrase/stanza from each group member.

3. Closing with an impact! Repeat your ‘hook’/stanza or a few of the most impactful words

or phrases.

4. Call-To-Action: Giving your audience a task to do to help prevent violence in your school

community.

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Circle Discussion Guide:

The Evan Video

Objectives

Student SAVE Promise Club members will view the PSA Evan and facilitate a circle discussion.

Students SAVE Promise Club members will develop ideas on how to use the Evan video as a teaching tool to equip other students to ‘Know the Signs.’

Standard Alignment CASEL Competencies:

Social Awareness: Students will take the perspective of others while engaging in a discussion with peers.

Relationship Skills: Students will communicate clearly and actively listen during community circle.

Responsible Decision-Making: Students will analyze a social problem depicted in a PSA and devise solutions for preventing the problem in their own school community.

Sandy Hook Promise videos and Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are engaging teaching tools for

the Know the Signs programs: Start With Hello and Say Something. The Evan PSA Evan PSA went viral

and has received over 100 million views on You Tube. It is recommended that you spend an entire SAVE

Club meeting analyzing the Evan PSA and running through scenarios with your SAVE Club members

before using this as a teaching tool for other students or staff.

Community circles are a fantastic way to facilitate a dialogue about Evan. The following Circle outline

and guidelines are intended to generate discussion using higher-order thinking and active listening skills.

The restorative circle methods used in the SAVE Promise Club Toolkit are based on the research and

practice of Dr. Carolyn Boyes-Watson. Dr. Boyes-Watson is the Founding Director of the Center for

Restorative Justice at Suffolk University and has published a wealth of written work on restorative and

peacemaking circles.

This circle involves heavy topics. Especially if this is taught with a new group of students, consider

limiting the size of the circle to 10 - 15 participants for optimal participation. You can have as many

circles as you want, being mindful that there is space for groups to speak and listen to one another

without too many distractions. Provide each group with the ‘Discussion Rounds’ and have a facilitator

guide the discussion.

https://youtu.be/A8syQeFtBKc

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The basic circle guidelines are as follows:

1. Sit in a circle. This demonstrates connectivity and equality. No one has any more power than

anyone else in the circle. If an Advisor or another adult champion joins the meeting, they should

sit in the circle with the students.

2. Use a Talking Piece that is symbolic for your SAVE Promise Club. The individual holding the

Talking Piece is the only one in the circle who speaks. Sample Talking Pieces could include a

stuffed animal that represents your school mascot; an orange or green item that represents

anti-violence; or a lantern to represent the ‘light’ that your SAVE Club represents.

3. Actively listen and be present. Cell phones and other electronics should be put away (unless the

timekeeper needs a stopwatch).

4. Speak with an open heart.

SAVE Promise Club student leaders may wish to teach this lesson to other clubs and classes in their

school community. It is recommended that the SAVE Promise Club practice using a Circle format for

several meetings prior to facilitating a circle with another Club or group of students.

Time: 30 – 45 Minute Meeting

Agenda Item

Tasks to Complete Completed?

Welcome ✓ Have a student leader welcome SAVE Promise Club members to the meeting.

✓ Ask all participants to sit or stand in a circle. ✓ Review the agenda. ✓ Review the SAVE Club Meeting Norms or Charter.

Introduction ✓ Set-up the Evan video (2:28). Ask students to watch the PSA without taking notes or making comments.

Circle Round

Use the Talking Piece to complete each round of questions. Verbal participation is not necessary, and no one should be forced to participate. Students may pass the talking piece without sharing aloud and remain a part of the community.

Round 1: What are two things that came to your mind as you watched the Evan PSA?

Round 2: What does social isolation mean to you?

**Play the Evan video for a second time. Inform students to view the video from the lens of ‘Knowing the Signs.’**

https://youtu.be/A8syQeFtBKc

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Round 3: What warning signs did you notice in the video?

Round 4: How was your experience viewing the Evan video the second time as compared to the first time you watched it?

Round 5: Why do you think most people miss the signs the active shooter was giving throughout the PSA?

Round 6: If you see some of these warning signs, what will you do? What decisions are you going to have to make?

Round 7: How can your SAVE Promise Club use this video and circle discussion to teach other students how to Know the Signs?

Round 8: What solutions can we come up with today to make sure social isolation is not a problem in our own school community?

Round 9: SAVE Promise Club-created Question:__________________________________________________

Closing Round

Ask each student in the circle to share-out one feeling word that describes the impact the video Evan had on them. Sample words may include:

• Scared

• Frightened

• Confused

• Upset

• Terrified

• Sad

• Frustrated

• Anxious

Next, ask each student to share-out one feeling word that describes how they feel now that they know and understand warning signs that can help keep themselves and their friends safe. Sample feelings words may include:

• Confident

• Hopeful

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• Motivated

• Prepared

• Smart

• Equipped

• Informed

Scenarios: Small Groups

Once students have viewed the video twice and analyzed the PSA in a circle format, they can put their own learning into practice with scenarios. The scenarios will be more effective if students work in groups of 3 to 5. Give each group three minutes to analyze and discuss each scenario. If you are short on time, one option is to number the groups, give each group a different scenario, and then ask each group to share-out what they discovered and uncovered as they discussed and played-out the scenario.

Scenario #1: You have assigned seats in study hall and sit next to a student who uses a laptop computer to repeatedly look up different types of guns and ammunition, what would you do?

Scenario #2: Your English class is currently reading a novel that you just aren’t interested in. You tend to daydream or get distracted by what’s happening outside. One day, however, you notice a student that sits next to you is drawing multiple pictures of guns and doodling and writing threatening language in her journal, what could you do?

Scenario #3: You have a routine at lunch. After you pick-up your food, you head to the same table and sit with a small group of friends each day. You notice a boy who sits alone at lunch every day with his headphones on. You have an ‘Aha’ moment in which one day you realize you have never seen this boy interact with anyone before. What would you do?

Scenario #4: Unable to fall asleep after studying for an upcoming Algebra test, you start scrolling through Instagram. You pass by an image of someone from your school pointing a gun at the camera. At first, you keep on scrolling to check-out the next post of your friend’s selfie in front of your favorite fast food restaurant. But you hesitate for a moment and have a feeling of uneasiness. You scroll back to the picture of the student with a gun. What should you do?

Scenario #5: You’re not a morning person and tend to keep to yourself as you hustle to beat the bell to your homeroom. Occasionally, you see a group of Seniors bothering a boy at his locker. Once you witnessed the group of guys swiping the boy’s headphones off his head. On another

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occasion, the guys purposely bumped into the boy so that he would drop the books he was carrying. What should you do?

Scenario #6: The History teacher isn’t everyone’s favorite. But one day, you see a boy who sits in the back of the classroom make a gun with his hand, point it at the teacher, and pretend to shoot it while mumbling “I’m going to blow you away.” What should you do?

Extension Activity

✓ Music is a powerful way to evoke emotion. Play the song Johnny Met June by Shelby Lynne and follow the lyrics online. Conduct a few more circle discussion rounds using the questions below: Round 1: Why do you think the filmmakers selected this song to accompany the Evan video? Round 2: What song would you have chosen for the Evan video? Explain your reasoning.

✓ Ask your SAVE Club to think about what type of PSA they would like to create to address the most pressing issues related to social isolation and connectedness in your school community. Submit your PSA’s to Sandy Hook Promise.

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Discussion Questions

Round 1: What are two things that came to your mind as you watched the Evan PSA?


**Play the Evan video for a second time. Inform participants to view the video from the lens of

‘Knowing the Signs.’**


Round 4: How was your experience viewing the Evan video the second time as compared to

the first time you watched it?

Round 5: Why do you think most people miss the signs the active shooter was giving

throughout the PSA?

Round 6: If you see some of these warning signs, what will you do? What decisions are you

going to have to make?

Round 7: How can your SAVE Promise Club use this video and circle discussion to teach other

students how to Know the Signs?

Round 8: What solutions can we come up with today to make sure social isolation is not a

problem in our own school community?

Round 9: SAVE Promise Club-created Questions:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

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Handout: Scenarios

Scenario #1:

You have assigned seats in study hall and sit next to a student who uses a laptop computer to

repeatedly look up different types of guns and ammunition, what would you do?

Scenario #2:

Your English class is currently reading a novel that you just aren’t interested in. You tend to

daydream or get distracted by what’s happening outside. One day, however, you notice a

student that sits next to you is drawing multiple pictures of guns and doodling and writing

threatening language in her journal, what could you do?

Scenario #3:

You have a routine at lunch. After you pick-up your food, you head to the same table and sit

with a small group of friends each day. You notice a boy who sits alone at lunch every day with

his headphones on. You have an ‘Aha’ moment in which one day you realize you have never

seen this boy interact with anyone before. What would you do?

Scenario #4:

Unable to fall asleep after studying for an upcoming Algebra test, you start scrolling through

Instagram. You pass by an image of someone from your school pointing a gun at the camera.

At first, you keep on scrolling to check-out the next post of your friend’s selfie in front of your

favorite fast food restaurant. But you hesitate for a moment and have a feeling of uneasiness.

You scroll back to the picture of the student with a gun. What should you do?

Scenario #5:

You’re not a morning person and tend to keep to yourself as you hustle to beat the bell to your

homeroom. Occasionally, you see a group of Seniors bothering a boy at his locker. Once you

witnessed the group of guys swiping the boy’s headphones off his head. On another occasion,

the guys purposely bumped into the boy so that he would drop the books he was carrying.

What should you do?

Scenario #6:

The History teacher isn’t everyone’s favorite. But one day, you see a boy who sits in the back of

the classroom make a gun with his hand, point it at the teacher, and pretend to shoot it while

mumbling “I’m going to blow you away.” What should you do?

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Circle Discussion Guide:

Point of View PSA: Look at Me!

Most People Only Notice A Shooter

Once It’s Too Late

Objectives

Students will view the Sandy Hook Promise Point of View Public Service Announcement. Students will apply knowledge gained from the Say Something training video to assess the warning signs shown in Point of View.

Standard Alignment

CASEL Competencies: Social Awareness: Students will take the perspective of others while engaging in a discussion with peers. Relationship Skills: Students will communicate clearly and actively listen during community circle. Responsible Decision-Making: Students will analyze a social problem depicted in a PSA and devise solutions for preventing the problem in their own school community.

Notes for the Educator

Strong emotions and traumatic experiences could potentially be triggered by viewing this film. It is good practice to inform students that they will be seeing the set-up before an act of extreme violence and offer students the choice to opt-out of the video-viewing. Also, a foundation of trusting relationships should be established in the classroom prior to watching and discussing emotionally intense subject matter.

Mindful Minute

Take three inhales and exhales. Root your feet firmly into the ground. Be still for a moment. Try to look closely at yourself (an ‘internal’ mirror) and give yourself a smile. Recognize the beautiful things about yourself.

Student Connector Think of three things that make you special, unique, and/or a beautiful person. Turn-N-Talk to a partner. Each partner takes one-minute to explain those things that make you special, unique, and beautiful.

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Activity

If you haven’t informed students about the purpose of Public Service Announcements (PSA’s), explain to students that a PSA is:

• A video that educates an audience about a social issue or problem. It’s different than a commercial because it’s not selling a product to viewers.

• Sandy Hook Promise produced several other PSA’s to inspire the SAVE Promise Club created videos. Stay-tuned for a new PSA releasing September 2019 and monthly mini-lessons to accompany each PSA.

• The Other Side (Mar. 2018) • Tomorrow's News (Dec. 2017) • Monsters Under the Bed (Dec. 2014)

• The Ad Council has tons of PSA’s Ad Council Website that are quick and give you a glimpse into the power of PSA’s.

Show students Sandy Hook Promise’s PSA (1:50): Point of View two times. Before showing it the first time, preface that it does contain potentially triggering material and that students may choose to opt-out (see the educator’s note). Once the video ends, inform students you are going to show it to them again and would like them to look for:

• Warning signs of an active shooter.

• Examples of social isolation. Use the guide below to facilitate a circle discussion. Questions from the discussion guide can also be used as journal prompts for pre and post discussion writing assignments. If you do not have time or the established norms for a circle discussion, you can process the video with students by asking these questions:

• What are two things that came to your mind as you watched the Point of View PSA?

• Why do you think the title of this PSA is Point of View?

• Why do you think most people miss the signs the active shooter was giving throughout the PSA?

• Now that you know the three steps of Say Something, what will you do if you notice any of the warning signs like those that you observed in Point of View?

• What observations can you make about social isolation and bullying in our own school?

• What solutions do you propose to make sure students aren’t socially isolated in our school?

Closing

Thank students for their willingness to share and listen during the discussion. Inform students that they have the power to help prevent violence in their school community by taking their knowledge of the three steps of Say Something seriously: Look for Warning Signs and Threats, Act Immediately and Take it Seriously, and Say Something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nQUU0ytshQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvRQ1StsYGw&t=

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZN93Mk73_k&t=

https://www.adcouncil.org/

https://youtu.be/94P_WNFTFoM

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Extension Activities Assign students to work in groups of 4-5 to write, create, and produce their own 1-2 minute PSA about recognizing and knowing the warning signs. Show the PSA’s on the school’s broadcasting system or during Social Studies classes and ask the student body to use a basic rubric to vote on the most impactful and educational PSA. Don’t forget to share your PSA’s with Sandy Hook Promise at: [email protected].

Show students these still images from the PSA and

ask if they noticed these warning signs.


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Discussion Rounds

Themes Addressed in this PSA:

Victim/Victimization Bullying Invisibility Revenge Isolation

Round 1: What are two things that came to your mind as you watched the Point of View PSA?

Possible Answers: there’s a lot going on in schools and everybody’s busy and wrapped-up in

their own schedules and drama; the active shooter was invisible to peers; there’s so much

happening in a school that it’s easy to miss warning signs.


Possible Answers: when someone is alone all the time; when students are left out of things

because they’re viewed as different; when students don’t participate and join other students for

activities in school because they feel like they are invisible.

**Play the Point of View video for a second time. Inform participants to view the video from

the lens of ‘Knowing the Signs.’**


Possible Answers: Fascination with firearms, extreme social isolation, long history of being a

victim of bullying.

Round 4: How was your experience viewing the Point of View video the second time as

compared to the first time you watched it?

Possible Answers: I missed a lot of things the first time I watched it; I focused on different things

when I watched it the second time; I was looking for warning signs the second time.

Round 5: Why do you think most people miss the signs the active shooter was giving

throughout the PSA?

Possible Answers: There’s so much going on in schools and everybody has their own stuff to

deal with; students were busy hanging out with friends, running for office, and worrying about

themselves; All the signs weren’t seen at once, they happened throughout the course of a typical

day-at-school.

Round 6: If you see some of these warning signs, what will you do? What decisions are you

going to have to make?

Possible Answers: I’ll act right away by going to my trusted adult; I have to take it more

seriously because maybe I’m just seeing one warning sign out of a bigger picture of what’s

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happening with that student throughout a day; I need to do a quick assessment to determine if I

should call 9-1-1, tell my trusted adult, or submit the tip anonymously.

Round 7: What solutions can we come up with today to make sure social isolation is not a

problem in our own school community?

Possible Answers: Start or join a SAVE Promise Club to keep the Say Something message alive

all-year and as part of our school culture; Raise awareness about the issue and give each other

ideas on how we can include others that may be feeling left out; make saying something socially

acceptable; squash any rumors that saying something is the same as snitching.

**If you have a SAVE Promise Club**Round 8: How can our SAVE Promise Club use this video

and circle discussion to teach other students how to Know the Signs?

Round 9: Student-created Questions:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Quick Scenarios to Check-for-Understanding

Scenario #1:

You see graffiti, drawings, or and other markings on a school locker and in the bathroom stalls

that threaten to kill someone directly, what can you do?

Scenario #2:

You walk into the crowded cafeteria and there is just one student sitting by himself, what can

you do?

Scenario #3:

You notice that a girl in the library is always looking-up pictures of guns and weapons online.

What should you do?

Scenario #4:

A friend was bored in class and started to scroll Instagram, he shared a screenshot with you

from a classmate’s Insta story that stated, ‘Don’t come to school tomorrow.’ What should you

do?

Scenario #5:

You’re in the gym locker room and notice a group of boys making fun of one student. The

group of boys are laughing, teasing, and throwing things at him. What can you do?

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Part 6

SAVE Promise Club

Accolades &

Celebrations

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Some fun ways to celebrate SAVE Promise Club members!

❑ Provide purple/green/orange graduation cords for 8th graders and Seniors for

graduation or stepping-up ceremonies.

❑ Ask the PTA or PTSO to provide a morning breakfast for SAVE Promise Club members

and acknowledge them for all that they do to help keep the school safe.

❑ Get a local newspaper to cover a story on your SAVE Promise Club members and

possibly highlight one member per month in a special column.

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Don’t forget to recognize and celebrate the hard work that

SAVE Promise club student leaders do throughout the year.

Certificate award ceremonies, step-up assemblies, and mid-

year pizza parties are all ways to acknowledge that SAVE

Promise Clubs are making a positive impact in the school

community.

Northside Middle School, Greenwood School District, South Carolina

AWARDED TO

Recipient Name

FOR DEMONSTRATING LEADERSHIP SKILLS, CREATIVITY AND PASSION FOR PROTECTING FRIENDS, SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

FROM VIOLENCE BEFORE IT HAPPENS AS A MEMBER OF THE SAVE PROMISE CLUB AT <Insert School>.

SAVE Promise Club Advisor Date

SAVE PROMISE CLUB TOOLKIT

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