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We Can Club
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We Can Club
The We CanTM Club leadership training model helps develop a young person's ability to make positive life choices based upon sound values and a vision of a successful future. The youth of today are the world's leaders of tomorrow, and we are committed to providing them with the skills, perspectives, and opportunities to serve their communities and our world.
The purpose of the We CanTM Club is to promote feelings of acceptance and belonging.✓ Youth join clubs and organizations because they want to be an active part of a group. If they do not feel they are welcome, or that they don’t “fit in” they will very quickly stop coming. Often, groups do not intentionally leave out members, but simply overlook new or quieter members.
✓ We encourage the club members to plan group-building activities for every meeting. Through these activities, young people can be pulled into the group without feeling left out.
Furthermore, a Club provides opportunities to develop relationships.✓ It is impossible to develop relationships without talking to one another. The Club meetings provide lots of opportunities for the members to talk with one another and take advantage of the unique learning opportunities a Club meeting can provide.
✓ The Club provides structured interaction beyond get-acquainted activities, as team-building activities, small group discussions, and teamwork. And we guide them to include unstructured interaction time as well.
The We CanTM Club provides Safety and Structure.
✓ Youth feel safe in a group when they know the behaviors that are expected of them.
✓ To clarify these behaviors, it is important to lead the Club though a process of identifying the standards of behavior they all agree they want for their Club.
✓ These standards are written in the form of Club Rules they determine amongst themselves. The Club rules help members monitor their own behaviors and decrease the need for the adult leader to control behavior. The rules also help prevent misunderstandings between members and adults and leaders about appropriate behavior at Club meetings and events.
The We CanTM Club provides opportunities to contribute to the group✓ A sense of belonging to any group, whether family, school, community, or Club, is formed when there are opportunities to contribute to that group and when it is clear that those contributions are essential to the group.
✓ The Club’s meetings offer ways for all members to contribute and see themselves necessary to the success of the Club.
The We CanTM Club promotes competences and independence.✓ We help the Club members to plan and conduct their meetings.
✓ The program provides opportunities at age-appropriate levels to have input into the design of the meeting and develop leadership for the meeting. We prepare the Club members for the leadership roles they assume and provide support as they practice these roles.
✓ We help the Club members to evaluate their plans and use that information for future planning and assist in developing plans.