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Section 3: Activities to Start a New Club

ACTIVITY 1: Introducing the Club

Preparation:

Before you have the first meeting you should have already asked permission of your head of school, decided how many members you will enroll; how you will select the members and what the executive positions will be. The information on the previous pages would have helped you to make these preparations. You should also read the following instructions before doing this activity.

Objectives:

By doing this activity with your club, you will register the club members and invite nominations for the club executives. Club members will learn what the WCG and Wildlife are. In addition, your members will learn what members do in the club and what the rights and responsibilities of club members are. Finally, they will learn how to sing a song about the WCG.

Instructions:

 

STEP 1. Introduce the club by reading them the following:

What are the Wildlife Clubs of Ghana?

The Wildlife Clubs of Ghana is the junior wing of the Ghana Wildlife Society. The clubs are groups of young people interested in animals, plants and the environment. The WCG is a national voluntary youth movement - in much the same way as are the Red Cross or Boy Scouts.

Ask your club if they know what is Wildlife? Ask several club members, then tell them:

Wildlife is all plants and animals that are not domesticated or tamed by humans. This means that they are not fed, bred, or taken care of by people.

Ask members to give examples of Wildlife?

Answers include ants, trees, lions and fish. Encourage the club to think of their own answers.

Ask members to give some examples of things that are not Wildlife?

Answers include goats, yams and cow, cats and dogs. Encourage the club to think of their own answers.

Ask your club if they know why there are Wildlife clubs?

Wildlife clubs were established because Wildlife is important and at an early stage we need to learn to conserve it. Wildlife is important for four reasons:

What do Wildlife club members of the WCG do?

Members of the WCG play games, do activities and projects and go on field trips to help conserve Wildlife and have fun. Club members help conserve in many ways including, learning about how to conserve Wildlife and the environment, educating others about Wildlife and the environment, doing research about Wildlife and the environment and doing projects, such as tree planting and clean up campaigns and finally, by doing advocacy campaigns.

What are the rights and responsibilities of club members?

Responsibilities

Rights

STEP 2. Register the members.

STEP 3. Invite nominations for the executive members.

STEP 4. Sing the Wildlife song with the club. Instructions and words for the Wildlife song are on page 16.

ACTIVITY 2: Elections and Work Plan for the Year

Preparations:

Before this meeting you should have decided what the executive positions will be and invited nominations for the executive positions. If you have not yet decided, the information on pages three to six will help you.

Objectives:

Club members will participate in electing the executive of the club and deciding what the club activities for the term will be. If club members choose activities, they will also be more willing to participate in the activities that you plan.

Instructions:

 

STEP 1. Hold elections.

  1. Tell your club that you are going to have elections and tell them which executive positions are going to be elected and what the responsibilities are of each of those positions are.

  2. Tell your club that each one of the nominees will give a short speech on why they should be elected for the position.

  3. Tell the club members that after the speeches they will vote on the executive. Tell them that they should vote for whoever they think is best for the position.

  4. Starting with the least senior executive position, have the nominees for each position read the speech that they have prepared.

  5. After the nominees for each position have read their speech, vote by show of hands or secret ballot.

  6. After all the positions are elected, write down who has won and introduce the new executive to the club members.

STEP 2. Teach the Wildlife Anthem to your club members.

  1. Write the words to the anthem on the blackboard and teach the words of the anthem to your club members by singing it for them.

We are the Wildlife Clubs of Ghana
And our aim is to Conserve Wildlife 2X

The trees, bright flowers, the giraffe's long neck
The lion' s sharp and horrifying teeth
They all help - to beautify the world - So let us all
help to Conserve Wildlife

Chorus Little girls, little boys - men and women
And all who are here - Great and Small
Rich and Poor - Let us all help to Conserve Wildlife

STEP 3. Help your club and executive plan their schedule for the term.

It is the responsibility of each club to plan a programme and submit it to the Regional Co-ordinator. You can help your club to make a schedule of activities by following the instructions below.

  1. First consult your academic calendar with your club and decide how many meetings you will need to have in the term.
  2. Brainstorm a list of all activities with your club. Turn to the table of contents on page one of this guide and read the list of activities and projects to your club.
  3. Once you have read the list of activities and projects in the table of contents in this guide ask if your club would like to do any of those activities. Ask your club members to give you suggestions of the activities that they would like to do.
  4. Write a list of all the activities your club members suggest.
  5. Ask members if each of the activities listed will help them to learn about the environment and Wildlife. Strike from the list all activities that do not help the club members to learn about or help conserve Wildlife and the environment.
  6. Ask your club to vote by show of hands, which activities they would like to do most. The activities that receive the most votes should be included in the termly programme.
  7. Plan the activities- many of the activities in the Club leader's guide require preparation. When planning activities consider:
  1. Decide on the best time to do each activity and fix a date for it.
  2. Now that you have your termly plan, give one copy to your Regional Coordinator and one copy to your head of school.

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