Trojan Fields JOOI Club was started by
Lesa Phillips in October 2009. Lesa Phillips works as a para educator
at Tri-County School in Dewitt, NE for three years. She became an
Optimist International Member July 2008 and is now Vice President of
the Fairbury, NE Optimist Chapter.
Why did you choose to make a JOOI Club at Tri-County Schools?
I have worked in Tri-County for three years. I know
that the younger students do not have much to participate in unless
they are involved in sports. I know that there are many kids that would
like to be involved in an activity and help out their community. Since
I have worked at Tri-County for three years I know the kids better and
know that they want to help in a way outside of school. After joining
the Fairbury Optimist and going to conferences and learning about JOOI
Clubs, I became very interested in starting one at Tri-County. I
decided to put the information I learned from conference to good use
and asked the kids what they thought of having a JOOI Club in their
school. Many jumped on the opportunity to help and were very excited to
get started and would always ask if they were able to start yet. After
I got many kids agreeing this would be a great thing, I went to the
school board to get it approved and with their approval I moved on to
filling out the paper work and having an informational meeting for
those students who were interested and their parents.
This club now has 20 members for the 5th and 6th
graders of Tri-County. I will hopefully expand to the 7th and 8th
graders once this year is complete so the kids now participating will
continue on through school. I have noticed many changes in the students
that have joined this club. They are very excited to be at school, they
speak to more students and are not very shy when it comes to talking in
class, they are also excited about the idea that they have a say in
what they want to do, not an adult telling them they have to complete
this task. I am just along to help them in their activities, give
suggestions and answer questions. I am very excited to be the JOOI
Advisor and I hope other students will see the great activities planned
and will want to join. This club I would call a definite
self-confidence booster and I am very excited to see how the year will
go.
