ACT: The Animal Club for Teens (Ages 13-18)

ACT: Animal Club for Tweens is a club for 13 to 17-year-old students who are interested in animal welfare and animal rights. 

Each week we’ll meet a different kind of animal who needs our help. Students will learn about the issue surrounding the animal and decide if our club should take action for change. We’ll learn about different ways of making decisions as we decide as a club about whether we should take action on a particular issue. We’ll explore majority voting and consensus decision-making. If the students decide as a group that they should take action, the teacher will introduce at least one way to take action on that week’s animal-related issue. 

Some weeks, students may learn about sending an email to a government official asking that he or she make a particular policy decision that will help the animal. Other weeks, the students may learn that they can help an animal by sharing the animal’s story on social media sites. At other times, students may learn about a direct action they can take to help the animal, such as deciding not to buy a product or putting out bowls of water for wildlife during a drought. 

Some weeks, the club may host a guest speaker who is with an animal rescue group, or who is an animal activist or a government official who can tell the students about how they can take action to make change they want to see. 

The teacher will use video, lecture and slide. The teacher will also facilitate respectful conversation and debate as she guides students through different decision-making processes.