comments about being a club sponsor?

[Reita13]

Hi all! I'm looking for comments, suggestions, encouragement? anything basically! to help me decide if I want to tackle being the Spanish Club sponsor next year. I am finishing my 4th year as a high school Spanish I teacher and am facing the possibility of being offered the position (current sponsor has done it for several years and is tired of it). The club currently (and in the past) has done very little--the students elect club officials and, since I began helping with the club, they take one trip to see a live dinner show. They also have the chance to buy a club t-shirt. But I am not interested in sponsoring a name-only club. If I were to take it on, I would want the kids to do some kind of community service project, have an end-of-year dinner at a decent restaurant, and receive some recognition. The drawbacks are that our district is rather small, fund raisers aren't allowed, and the students that are involved in anything seem to be the only ones involved...and they're involved with everything. Has anyone else been in this position? I'd appreciate any feedback as I said at the beginning of this post. TIA.

[annettemcd]

There is a number of activities which you could do with a Spanish Club which would not involve any fund-raising. As for the fact that the students involved are the ones involved in other activities --that is common in small schools. You might want to see if you can get some other students involved. Try something simple like telling each club member to bring a friend to the next meeting or post signs around the school about what you are doing and be sure that students understand that they are joining for everything involved, not just the fun stuff.

Why not have a dinner with a Spanish theme where the students do the cooking, decorating, and clothes and invite their families? Go to a Spanish or Mexican Restaurant and require the students to order in Spanish and speak only Spanish. Have the students go to a local elementary school and teach a lesson in Spanish to a class. If there is a Spanish speaking population in your community, see if the club members can offer services such as help learning English and/or help filling out forms like job applications.

[Unregistered]

At my school, our Spanish classes/club hosts a cultural festival each year. It is one evening after school. All students are involved, and class and club members are required to bring one adult guest with them. We always have a great turn out. Some students bring in Spanish food dishes, other create presentation boards on aspects of culture, entertainment, religion, etc. There is Spanish music played lightly over the intercom, and the area is decorated. This takes a lot of planning, but it is a great way to get the kids and parents involved.