Tips and Tricks to Help Manage A Large Chapter

BY: TYLER PRICE JAMES MADISON HIGH SCHOOL AGRICULTURE SCIENCE TEACHER

The old saying “Everything’s Bigger in Texas,” rang true for this small-town boy from Northwest Oklahoma. I left a chapter with roughly 250 members and three agriscience teachers, already a large chapter to me, for the Agriscience Magnet Program at James Madison High School in San Antonio, Texas with roughly 620 members and seven agriscience teachers. My time in chapters of various sizes has taught me that managing a large chapter successfully takes three things: communication, delegation, and the Apple App Store.

No matter the size of the chapter, communication is very important. Communication is required amongst your teaching partners, parents, booster club, alumni, administration, student leaders, and more. One way we communicate as a team is through weekly staff meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page. We meet every Monday, same time, same place. This is a time for us all to get together to discuss what everyone has going on for the week and what we as a chapter have coming up. While email and texting are viable options, nothing beats traditional face-to-face communication. Group texts are another way we communicate daily. While a group chat can become overwhelming, most of the time they are useful for getting information out quickly and often with a good laugh! It is also important to have an open line of communication with administration, especially for large chapters, who may not get the attention they deserve. We always make sure to send our administration a chapter t-shirt, invite them to events, and stop by their office if we are in the area. Support from administration is great to have at all times, but even better in times of need.

Through my experience with large chapters, I have found delegation and knowing your teaching partners’ strengths is very important. Each of us has strengths in certain areas. Whether it's booking hotels or being in charge of securing vehicles; having connections in the livestock industry or being good at assisting with applications; or being the old wise one with all the wisdom or the young one with lots of aspirations but needing guidance, knowing each other’s strengths is important before delegating tasks. Each year, usually at ATAT Conference, we all get together and make a list of responsibilities. These responsibilities range from campus account responsibilities, LDE/ CDE team responsibilities, application responsibilities, SAE supervision responsibilities, and much more. This allows us to know going into the school

year what is expected of each of us.

“MY TIME IN CHAPTERS OF VARIOUS SIZES HAS TAUGHT ME THAT MANAGING A LARGE CHAPTER SUCCESSFULLY TAKES THREE THINGS: COMMUNICATION, DELEGATION, AND THE APPLE APP STORE.”

The next piece of this is holding each other accountable. Just because one of us oversees Lone Star Degrees does not mean teamwork is not important and we do not have to help that person if needed. Establishing who oversees what at the beginning of the year gives us guidance on who to direct students to when they have questions about a certain area. Students also begin to pick up on who is in charge of what and will begin advocating for themselves to those teachers whom they know are in charge.

While the above items are important to managing any chapter, I also wanted to give you a tangible tool. Our favorite piece of technology for chapter management is GroupMe. This app is gold! We put students in groups based on Lone Star years, which allows us to get messages out to students quickly about upcoming events they need in order to qualify for their Lone Star. We also make one for seniors where we can send scholarship information. A nice thing about the app is if a student does not want the information, they can leave. In a chapter where teachers don’t know every student or have them in class, this is a great way to get information to a large number of students. We use GroupMe in our livestock barns, our teams, classes, and events. I strongly encourage teachers to take advantage of this great app. And most importantly, it is free!

Moving into a larger chapter can be scary at first. Some challenges are not present in smaller chapters, but we also face many of the same obstacles. Learning to be flexible and stay calm in times of chaos is important no matter the size of your chapter. Rely on your coworkers, know your strengths, download GroupMe, and remain calm. With the right tools, a bigger chapter really can be better!