Start Your Keystone Club
Whether you’re forming a new club or joining a long-standing group, Keystone is your Club. The goals of any Keystone Club are to engage new members, achieve a certain charter level, create meaningful leadership opportunities for Keystoners and develop a plan for the future – and you partner with your advisor to make that happen.
Recruitment
Recruitment is finding new members and encouraging them to join Keystone. For new or existing Keystone Clubs, engaging new members is a priority until you reach the ideal size of 10 to 15 Keystoners. (Clubs must have at least six members.)
+ Start recruitment
Have a meeting to focus specifically on how to get new members to join Keystone. Your Keystone advisor partners with one or two teammates to plan and facilitate the recruitment meeting. Use AGENDA: RECRUITMENT MEETING to get started.
Orientation
An orientation welcomes new members, helps them learn the basics of membership and gives them a chance to hear from Keystone youth about interests and skills they hope to explore.
+ Host an orientation
Have a special meeting to welcome new members. Your Keystone advisor partners with one or two Keystoners to plan and facilitate the orientation meeting. Keep it open-ended, upbeat and fun – include a community builder to create a relaxed and informal atmosphere (see COMMUNITY BUILDERS for ideas) and, if possible, arrange for refreshments with your advisor. Use AGENDA: ORIENTATION MEETING for guidelines.
Preparation
Once you’ve recruited and welcomed new members, you’ll conduct your first regular Keystone meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to form a connected and purposeful team.
Keystone is all about working as a team – making decisions, solving problems, and taking responsibility for change together. This is important because no one develops leadership on their own. Instead, your leadership strengths come to light when you contribute meaningfully to the team and find yourself an important part of the process. See AGENDA: FIRST MEETING for guidelines on conducting this meeting. Here’s what you’ll do in the first meeting.
+ Learn about partnership
Your Keystone advisor is always there to support you in becoming the leader you’re meant to be. At times the advisor will guide, mentor, coach or teach you and, at other times, they will jump right in as a partner to do the work alongside you. The partnership – a youth-adult partnership – between you and your advisor is what gives you the opportunity to lead while also giving you the support to learn and grow. You’ll learn more about youth-adult partnerships in the first meeting.
+ Create agreements
One of the first and most important things you’ll do as a team is form group agreements. These are important, both for new Keystone Clubs or for established clubs starting a new year, because they help members envision a safe and supportive setting for working together. Once the team has agreed to a set of guidelines, post them where all Keystoners can see them, and review them at each regular meeting to see if they’re still valid or need to be adjusted.
+ Get to know each other
Getting to know each other as a team lays a foundation for your work together. And because Keystone helps you build on leadership strengths you already have, it’s important to begin by focusing on your passions, your interests, the kind of leader you want to be. In this first meeting, you’ll discuss team members’ passions, interests and contributions you would like to make. Use WHAT SPARKS YOUR PASSION? COMMUNITY BUILDER to get to know each other and your advisor better.
Roles
In Keystone, you’ll have many chances to lead. You’ll try out different roles and responsibilities – as you do, you’ll build on existing leadership skills and develop new strengths as well.
+ Consider the options
Keystone Clubs have officers – team members who have a specific role in planning, facilitating meetings and overseeing club activities. Most clubs also have project committees so that all Keystoners have a chance to experience different leadership roles. See LEADERSHIP ROLES to think about which role fits you best.
+ Elect officers
Clubs are required to elect four officers each year: president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. This is a requirement for club chartering and is done every charter year, giving more Keystoners a chance to run for officer positions. Some clubs create “shared” officer positions so two people can serve in one role and learn from each other. See GUIDELINES FOR ELECTING OFFICERS to begin the election process. Keystoners serving as club secretary also can use GUIDELINES FOR TAKING NOTES to help them in their role.
Charter year
The National Keystone charter period runs from September 1 to August 31 each year. The Keystone officers and advisor (the planning team) work together to make a plan for the charter year, which includes planning to meet the requirements of one of four charter levels: basic, silver, gold and legacy. A plan helps you keep track of everything the club hopes to accomplish in the coming year: specific goals you’ve set, important events and activities, and meeting requirements for the club charter. Planning for your Keystone Club year will take place over several meetings. Use the MEETING PLANNER for help leading these meetings.
+ Set goals for the year
When a Keystone Club is chartered, it means it’s affiliated with and supported by the National Keystone program. Chartering your club is important because it allows you to exchange ideas with other clubs and reach levels that will allow you to attend the Keystone National Conference. In order to apply for a charter, Keystone Clubs must have at least six members (ideally, 10 to 15 members) between the ages of 14 and 18. There are four different charter levels for Keystone Club, and each level has different requirements to qualify. See CHARTERING YOUR CLUB to find out more.
+ Lead in four key focus areas
Keystone Clubs do work in four key focus areas: community service, academic success, career preparation and teen outreach.
+ Community service
Keystoners learn what it means to be contributing citizens, and they experience the satisfaction of helping others while serving their Club and community. Challenging projects give them the chance to use newly acquired skills in practical and meaningful ways.
+ Academic success
Through work in this area, Keystoners come to know the value of education as well as the importance of graduating on time and being prepared for the future—whether it is college, vocational education, the military or employment.
+ Career preparation
As Keystoners explore different careers, they become aware of the education needed for each. They explore various vocational resources, colleges and job fairs that give them the foundation they need to make informed career choices.
+ Teen outreach
Each Keystone Club is responsible for helping to drive teen engagement and recruiting efforts into their Club.
+ Make a plan and calendar
The Keystone officers and advisor (the planning team) facilitate the planning process with all Keystoners – working together, the team makes a plan, calendar and budget for the club year. Several tools guide you through in this process: YEARLY PLANNING CALENDAR, BUDGET PLANNER and FUNDRAISING GUIDELINES AND PLANNER.
Reflection
The end of each charter period is a good time for you and your teammates to review progress you’ve made over the past year – both as individuals and as a team.
+ Meet to review progress
Schedule an end-of-year meeting to give Keystoners a chance to reflect on their growth and progress over the course of the charter year. Use REFLECT ON YOUR KEYSTONE EXPERIENCE to guide the reflection process.