Terrific Kids - Questions and Answers

What is the best way to approach the elementary school about sponsoring Terrific Kids?

Several Kiwanis clubs have been very successful at presenting the program to the school after volunteering at the school through other means. Often times Kiwanis club, Key Club, or Circle K members volunteer to read to children at the school. This is a great way to develop a relationship with the students, and school staff. As a result, when club members approach the principal with the idea of establishing a Terrific Kids program it is seriously considered. (Remember to order the Kiwanis Kids Introductory Kit to use when presenting the idea to the elementary school principal.)

The school principal may tell the Kiwanis family volunteer that the school district superintendent needs to approve the program. If this is the case, request contact information for this individual, call and schedule a meeting, and hopefully the superintendent will see the benefits of conducting such a program in the school. If the superintendent is really impressed with the program he/she might ask your club to make a presentation to all the elementary school principals in the district. So make sure your club has the manpower to this if this opportunity should arise. If you need additional help providing programs to various schools in the district communicate with the clubs in your area, Kiwanis, Key Club, and Circle K. Any of these Kiwanis family clubs can sponsor the Terrific Kids program in a school.

A big key to obtaining support for Terrific Kids is educating the (Parent Teacher Organization) PTO at the school. Make a presentation and gain support from this group. Try to work hand in hand to build relationships with business sponsors the PTO is interested in approaching. It’s a win, win situation for everyone.

After the school principal and PTO have welcomed you. You’re ready to start the program. Call Kiwanis International and order the Terrific Kids program kit.

How do we approach a business sponsor about supporting the program at the school?

After you receive commitment from your club members and the school it’s time to solicit assistance from a local business sponsor. The Kiwanis Kids promotional brochure will come in handy when speaking with the business sponsor. Explain how students receive recognition for accomplishing goals and talk about the recognition party and how you envision the sponsor offering assistance. Provide options for providing support. The business sponsor might want to provide give-a-ways such as coupons, or actual store promotional items that can be used as gifts. The sponsor may choose to provide funding or actual food for the recognition party.

Give the business sponsor an idea of how often students will be recognized and how the club intends to publicize the program.

Provide examples of how the business sponsor’s name will be promoted. Here are some options. The club can order personalized bumper stickers from Kiwanis International. The business sponsor’s name is added to the bumper stickers. This means that every child honored with the award will give the bumper sticker to his/her parents, who will display the bumper sticker on one of the family cars.

Display the business sponsor’s name on the Terrific Kids bulletin board, in the school’s newsletter, on the school’s Web site, in the school’s yearbook, and include information in news releases sent to local media.

Order Terrific Kids T-shirts and have a local T-shirt shop personalize the T-shirts with the business sponsor’s name on the back.

School staff may have ideas about businesses they would like to partner with, or the PTO may have suggestions.

It’s a good idea to research which businesses provide special funding for community service. A quick Web site search should provide this information. These businesses might be more inclined to provide support.

What suggestions do you have to thank business sponsors?

After a period of time you may want to send a special thank you to your business sponsor. Ask the latest group of Terrific Kids to create thank you cards. Send the thank you cards to the business sponsor.

When sending news releases to local media about Terrific Kids always mention the business sponsors name. If the news release is published in the newspaper, send a copy of the newspaper article with a thank you note to the business sponsor.

Invite the business sponsor to a special school ceremony to say thank you. Present the business sponsor with a gift. The Kiwanis Family Store has fun, affordable gifts available for purchase. Consider buying a Terrific Kids T-shirt as a gift. Honor your business sponsor as an honorary Terrific Kid!

Make point to take photos of the event. The photograph can be embellished and used as another gift. Purchase a frame with a large border (available at any dollar store), ask all the Terrific Kids to sign the photograph border, place the photo in the picture frame, and now you have a personalized gift to present at a later time.

Do you have suggestions regarding goals students should establish to participate in Terrific kids?

Goals really depend on the behavior the child would like to work on changing. If the teacher guides the student in the right direction the child will become more productive when in class.

Here are goals other students have established. Remember, students compete against themselves, not one another and the goals should be SMART goals. The word SMART represents: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Truthful.

Here are examples of goals.

• I will raise my hand and quietly wait to be selected.
• I will put my book back on the proper shelf after the class reading session.
• I will return my library books to the school library before the late date.
• I will learn my multiplication tables for 1 through 5 by _____ date.
• I will clean-up my area after the arts and crafts session.
• I will talk in class only when being called-on by the teacher.
• I will arrive to class on time everyday.
• I will bring my books and homework to school every day.
• I will not push my classmates when angry.
• I will keep my hands to my self and not bother my classmates.

Any specific goal that is achievable and measurable will work.

What have Kiwanis clubs, and teachers experienced by as a result of implementing the Terrific Kids Program?

The feedback I have received to date is that students enjoy participating in the decision process of establishing the goal and therefore are very motivated about achieving their goal. The increase in positive self-esteem and sense of accomplishment carry over into other areas as well.

Teachers comment that more students participate in class and that behavior in class improves. Parents report a positive change regarding willingness to assist with tasks at home.

The program provides an opportunity for teachers to recognize students that may not normally receive recognition. It's important to recognize students for legitimate reasons, or student won't feel the praise is deserved or sincere. The Terrific Kids program provides a concrete reason to offer recognition.

How does one address the issue of children in a class who do not achieve their goals?

When a student doesn’t achieve a goal, the teacher should sit down and talk with the student about difficulties, which prevented the student from achieving his/her goal. After challenges preventing success are identified, the student and teacher should sit down together and make a list of what can be done differently during the next three weeks to accomplish the original goal. (This would be the perfect time to talk about the importance of perseverance.) If the teacher and student find that the goal was unrealistic, the goal should be changed. The key is to provide the student with a positive learning experience as a result of failing at a task. Rather than focusing on failing, the student focuses on what he/she can change in order to be successful. The student should re-group, come up with a new plan, and move forward.

If the teacher finds goal identification to be an issue when working with a specific class the Terrific Kids program can be altered to accomplish the same goal of recognizing students, but students are honored for achieving the goal of learning the Terrific Kids character traits.

Terrific Kids with a twist!

Create a chart listing the Terrific Kids character traits (Thoughtful, Enthusiastic, Respectful, Responsible, Inclusive, Friendly, Inquisitive, Capable) at the top of the chart and list student names to the left of the chart.

Each student's goal is to learn about the character traits and write a paragraph telling how to demonstrate the character trait. (Example: A way to be thoughtful. When my classmate fell down today, I helped her up and helped her tie her shoes. This was a thoughtful act.)

One character trait can be reviewed each day, or each week. (Additional resources are offered on the Kiwanis Kids resource CD providing activities a teacher or Kiwanis family club volunteer can use to teach students about the Terrific Kids character traits.) A star is placed next to each character trait as the student learns about the trait. After stars are next to all the character traits listed next to the student’s name the student is honored as a Terrific Kid.

This is a different way to provide the program, but the outcome is just as effective!

Please e-mail questions, comments about ways to conduct the Terrific Kids program, or success stories to Lisa Pyron.