A few teachers and myself have started a lunch club based on the Shine Theory (article about the shine theory at work can be found here!) to help empower the young women we work with each day.
We started with a small group of girls from different grades, and different social circles, but made sure to pick young women who we knew would show up for us! We sent out a fun, cute, formal invite to join us for lunch and conversation, and lured them there with the promise of free snacks!
What started out as a monthly meeting, has now turned into a weekly must have!
The major event at each lunch is a simple brag session, where each girl must share one thing she is feeling about herself that week. It can be as huge as a sports win, an aced test, or a cool scholarship, or as simple as having a great hair day, remembering your homework, or getting to class on time. The key is, each girl must share, and each girl is given the space where the floor is all hers. The most amazing thing to see, is that most time without prompting, all of the women in the room will ask for elaboration on the feel good moments, and give genuine encouragement. It’s so uplifting to see!
The other key component is to make sure that this isn’t seen as an exclusive club. It is open to everyone, but not all at once. Each young lady who enjoyed her time, and plans to come back the next week is allowed to bring a friend. After you attend one meeting, you can bring a new friend each time, that friend can bring a friend, adding to the group each week! This allows for growth and inclusion, but at a manageable rate :)
We also try to provide one activity for each lunch, but it is really student centered. The girls set the agenda, and the teachers are just there to follow along! We had some amazing weeks where the girls wrote a letter to a woman who they admired, talked about current events that affected them as women, and this week we are going to talk about books that helped in tough times.
I wanted to share the bookmark for this weeks meeting to encourage other teachers to create something like this on their own. Comment and let me know how it works for you. My favorite part of my job is empowering my students, and giving them space to strengthen their voice and be heard. Let me know your own ideas! I would love to hear what you have to say :)
Teen Lit Bookmark
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