Are Your Key Players on Board for Mix It Up?

We’re a little less than two months out from Mix It Up at Lunch Day. What does your core planning group look like? Our most successful schools during the past decade of Mix It Up events illustrate several key points when it comes to the planning group.

1. Student power is powerful. The best Mix It Up events allow students to take the lead in planning and organizing. Teacher and administrator allies are vital—to make sure things stay on track and momentum isn’t lost—but it is the power of student organizers that makes or breaks a Mix event. 
2. Broad participation is essential. While students are in the lead, it’s also vital to include everyone at the school. The principal and other administrators need to be on board, supporting the concept. Cafeteria workers must be included, especially since the heart of the activity takes place in their domain. Teachers—several, from across grade levels and academic subjects—make for powerful allies and supporters. Look around. Is there someone you’re forgetting to include? Now is the time to start involving them.
3. Go beyond the school walls. A good way to broaden and deepen the impact of your Mix It Up at Lunch event is to include people beyond the school walls. Parents are an obvious choice—both to let them know what’s going on, and in some cases, to have them get involved in the planning. Likewise, there are community leaders who can bolster support for the event. Ask the mayor to come. Join forces with a community group that shares the same values as Mix It Up. Ask local businesses to help sponsor the event.
4. Avail yourself of our free resources. We have Mix It Up posters, planning guides and lesson plans. Take a moment to browse our online offerings [2]—all free!—and see what might be helpful to you. 
5. Debrief and look forward. Whatever you plan, be sure to include a meeting to debrief after the event. That’s the best way to learn from what you have done and improve your efforts for future events. And speaking of future events: Our most successful schools have found that having multiple events during the year, rather than a single Mix It Up at Lunch Day, brings deeper, more lasting improvements to school climate. So as your Mix It Up at Lunch Day unfolds, be thinking about what comes next. 

Mix It Up at Lunch Day is Oct. 30!

Questions about Mix It Up? Ideas for Mix It Up organizers at other schools? Other thoughts? We welcome feedback–and can respond to questions–on Facebook [3] or Twitter [4]. You can also browse our free Mix It Up resources [5] online.