Schools are busy places, with lots of things competing for attention. Based on input from hundreds of schools during the past decade of Mix It Up at Lunch events, success is best achieved when you can build momentum leading up to the day – and carry it forward past the day, with Mix It Up-related events throughout the year.
How to build that momentum? Here are some ideas:
- Start with an air of mystery. Make posters that ask, “Are you ready to Mix It Up?” Then post them around the school, a few at first, then more and more. Maybe even have a handful of key players make T-shirts that ask the same question, all wearing them on the same day. Ask teachers to place that message on their classroom white boards. Then, after several weeks, start to reveal what Mix It Up is, involving more (and varied) students in the planning efforts.
- Mix up the planning group. If the theme for the day is to Mix It Up, imagine the power of having a “mixed up” planning group. Seek out unexpected student leaders, people who have influence with various groups at school. If a varied group of influential students are seen supporting the event, others will follow more readily.
- Use a multimedia, multi-pronged approach. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook. Video, audio and website announcements. Posters, poems and performance art. Announcements at school sports and music events. A skit about rigid lunch groups at a school assembly. The more ways you get the word out, the better participation you’ll have.
- Do something unexpected. One school actually changes the layout of the tables in the cafeteria for the day, mixing the room up even before students Mix It Up. Going with the “air of mystery” theme, the day you put the “Are you ready to Mix It Up?” posters in the cafeteria, you could also rearrange the table layout – long before the event, to get people thinking about it. Another idea? Plan a flashmob during lunch, using a song tied to the Mix It Up theme and involving students from varied school groups.
- Bring Mix into the classroom. We offer dozens of lessons and activities geared to all grade levels and multiple subject areas.
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I read the article Five Ways to Build Momentum for Mix. I really enjoyed this article because it is something you could do throughout the school year. Students and teachers alike get tired of doing the same routine every day… reading, social studies, lunch, art, math, writing and repeat. With the Mix It Up program is allows teachers to ‘mix up” their day, even if its something as little as rearranging tables in the room. This little change can liven up any students day and give them a little variety.
In the article it talked about creating suspense by just having teachers put on the dry erase board, “Are you ready to Mix It Up?”. I thought this was a great ideas to get students minds wondering. That one sentence could start children’s minds and make them concentrate on all other subjects. It is amazing that just a simple sentence could change a students entire day.