How do we engage middle school students?

Task Overview:

You will create and implement recruiting plans for the 3 middle schools.

Relevant info/criteria: In groups of 4, you will create a proposal for a Recruitment Plan.

Steps:

1. Gathering data about target audience - Basic demographics of students at a specific MS (total number of 6th/7th/8th graders, race, gender, etc.); what data would be useful for us to know? What specific types of students do we want to target with our recruitment plan? (8th graders only?)

2. Writing up background info about target audience - I.e., create a “Portrait of a Potential Applicant”

3. Write a "statement of change" that explains why you expect your Recruitment Plan to persuade someone in your target audience - For example: “We want to persuade students in [this specific group] to apply to BECHS; we think they will be most receptive to [these types of stories, from these types of students/adults, presented in this type of format]; therefore, we made our Recruitment Plan look like [this].

Questions to consider:

• What worked for you during your recruitment process?

• What made you change your mind?

• What persuaded you, and what do you think would be persuasive to your peers?

Teachers, add details here:

Expectations for students:

• What exactly will these Recruitment Plans look like (e.g., Google doc, Powerpoint, hardcopy pages)?

• Will you provide them with an outline describing what sections must be included in their Plans, and what must be included in each section?

Scheduling:

• How will you schedule check-ins so that groups can share their progress?

• When will the student groups actually get to implement their Recruitment Plans?

Feedback:

• What kind of peer feedback activity will the students engage in to improve their plans?

• How will the quality/effectiveness/persuasiveness of the Recruitment Plans be measured?