Genders & Sexualities Alliance/Gay-Straight Alliance: The Official GSA Teen Club

🌈 Are you searching for a welcoming and safe space for your teen? Do they want to connect with peers who share similar experiences, and explore gender, sexuality, and the LGBTQ+ community? Look no further – we're here for you! Welcome to all LGBTQ+ teens and allies of the LGBTQ+ Community! We extend a warm and enthusiastic welcome to everyone who embodies respect, kindness, and compassion, is educated about the LGBTQ+ community, offers support, demonstrates understanding, and champions enlightenment. In this "class," you're not just a student; you're a proud member of a nationwide network of clubs brought to you by the GSA Network. 🏳️‍⚧️

🛑 🚀 💸 Are you brand new to Outschool? Is this your teen's first class? If so, use promo code DRKAIKA2020 at checkout after enrolling your teen into this class to instantly save $20.00 on your first week! 💫 🙌

💥 Note for straight teen and parent allies: We deeply value our straight allies and embrace them with open arms. However, we request that teen allies be "strong allies," meaning they are well-informed, caring, and fully accepting of the LGBTQ+ community, to ensure this remains a safe haven for our LGBTQ+ teens. Hate speech, false information, disrespect, derogatory comments, and hateful opinions are strictly prohibited by all members, in alignment with Outschool policy. 💥

📢 If you find that this club is currently at capacity, please click on the "waitlist" in the class listing. Your teen will be added to our waitlist, and I'll promptly send you a message to your Outschool Parent Account once an opening becomes available, ensuring no one misses out on this wonderful opportunity. It is first come first serve on the waitlist.

This ongoing club is officially registered with the national GSA Network and is a Social, Educational, and Support GSA Club for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, graysexual, intersex, gender fluid, nonbinary, straight allies, questioning queer gender, queer, demisexual, and all others. This is a SAFE SPACE for all. We wholeheartedly welcome those who embrace respect, kindness, compassion, education about the LGBTQ+ community, support, understanding, and enlightenment.

GSA clubs, or GSA's for short, are student-run organizations with a teacher as the advisor, uniting LGBTQ+ and allied youth to build a vibrant community and advocate for issues affecting them in their schools and communities. GSAs have evolved beyond their traditional role, serving as safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth in middle schools and high schools, while also driving meaningful social change related to racial, gender, and educational justice. GSAs are hosted virtually and on public and charter school campuses worldwide.

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🗓️ Mark Your Calendar: This ongoing club operates in three separate seasons each year. There are no live meetings scheduled in between seasons, and the ongoing class concludes at the end of each season. To ensure your teen's participation, they will need to enroll in each separate ongoing club...

❄️🌷 Winter ~ Spring Club 2025: The Spring Club for 2025 kicks off on Thursday, January 9th, and concludes on Thursday, May 1st. Your teen can join or pause their participation at their convenience. To withdraw, simply unsubscribe before the next Sunday. To continue into the Summer Club, enroll in the new club starting on June 5th, 2025

☀️⛱️ Summer Club 2025: The Summer Club begins in celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month (June) on Thursday, June 5th, 2025, and wraps up on Thursday, September 18th, 2025. Your teen can join or pause their participation at their convenience. To withdraw, simply unsubscribe before the next Sunday. To continue into the Fall Club, enroll in the new club starting on September 5th, 2025.

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📒 More Details:

We have a very wide range of topics that the student officers plan for our main Thursday meetings including, but not limited to neurodiversity, transgender including MTF and FTM, bisexuality, graysexuality, pansexuality, ACE, drag queens, gays, lesbians, non-binary, allies, intersectionality, race, equal rights, LGBTQ history, civil rights, hate crimes, transgressive art, music, AIDS, activism, gender identity, before Stonewall and Stonewall, current political issues, overcoming adversity, art and music as activism, and so much more. We invite club members to submit suggestions and materials for topics too!

According to the GSA Network, an ever-growing body of research affirms that the presence of a GSA has a profoundly positive and lasting impact on student health, well-being, and academic performance. It serves as a shield against harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and over time, it improves school environments for all students. Through GSA organizing, young people become empowered to initiate campaigns on various issues that affect students nationwide.

This is not just a Social GSA; it's also a Support GSA. Students connect with fellow trans and queer students either in person or virtually. They work together to create safe spaces and engage in conversations about issues they face in school and their broader communities, including discrimination and other important educational topics.

🤗 🏳️‍🌈 ⚧️ 🏳️‍⚧️ 🥰
The main aim of a GSA is to foster community, this will foster collaboration between club members and ultimately create a strong community. In our club, we convene live online twice a week, Thursdays and Mondays. 

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WEEKLY MAIN MEETING: 
🏳️‍🌈 Thursdays (between 75 to 90 minutes): Live Video Meeting: We begin with a warm welcome and an emotional & mental check-in for all club members. Following this, we dive into a topic on one of many different LGBTQ+ topics by using engaging videos, articles, and other media planned by the student president. We also discuss two to three thought-provoking questions on the topic. To add a dose of fun, we play a Kahoot online game that recaps last week's discussion, and we wrap up with free social time in small to medium break-out rooms and the main room. Special guest speakers will also grace us with their presence from time to time. It's a collaborative club run by teens for teens!

WEEKLY NEWS MEETING:
🏳️‍⚧️ Mondays (60 minutes): Live Video Meeting: Our Monday meetings start with a warm welcome by me and our student captain for the season. The student vice-president then shares the latest world LGBTQ+ News & Current Events that were submitted by club members to help keep all members updated. We also have "Show and Tell" where each member can show and/or share something exciting in their lives. Then we play a fun Mad Libs. We conclude with social time in small to medium break-out rooms. 

All Week Long: We maintain a "Weekly Discussion" thread in the classroom each week for members to share videos, art, poetry, short stories, and more, ensuring the conversation continues from Thursday to the following Wednesday.

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If a student joins while our GSA is already in progress, they won't have access to previous meeting recordings or posts. However, they will see new classroom discussion posts moving forward.

Students and parents can reach out to me with any questions, problems, issues, concerns, or guidance at any time by sending a direct-private message. Students should use the "teacher" tab, and parents should use the "parent" tab on your Outschool dashboard to send private messages. I am ALWAYS here to support & serve my families!

🚫 To protect the identity and safety of all teen club members, I do not share the Outschool recordings of any live meetings with anyone. Only the Outschool Trust & Safety department and I may view the recordings. This practice is at each teacher's discretion on Outschool per Outschool's policies.

💯 I also highly recommend, for FUN learning, that teens take my "Self-Pace: Appreciating LGBTQ Studies, Culture, & History Class for Teens (Part 1 of 2)" semester class. It's packed with information, education, knowledge, discussions, and projects to raise awareness about their own community. 🏳️‍🌈 📚 📖 🏳️‍⚧️ This self-paced class has no live meetings but does contain teacher recordings, videos, assignments, and asynchronous teacher-student interaction. 

🔗 Link: https://outschool.com/classes/self-pace-discovering-lgbtq-studies-culture-history-for-teens-part-1-of-2-hVvbl3wJ?usid=Uy0RiQEo&signup=true&utm_campaign=share_activity_link 

NOTE: We do not have any live meetings during:

🌺 Spring Break: 1st full week of March
🍂 Fall Break: 4th week of November (USA Thanksgiving)

You are not charged for these weeks.

What are you waiting for 🤔? Come join in the FUN and the CONNECTIONS 😊 🤝!

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📝 THIS CLUB'S RULES:

Welcome to our vibrant and inclusive club! These rules are here to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all members. Your cooperation and understanding are greatly appreciated.

1. 🔛 Name Consistency: For Zoom safety and compliance with Outschool's policies, please maintain the same name on Zoom as on your Outschool account. You may change your name on Zoom to your preferred name and add your pronouns in parentheses after being admitted. You can update your name and pronouns in your Outschool Learner Profile for them to reflect on Zoom.

2. 😇 Kindness and Respect: Let's maintain a positive and supportive atmosphere. We are a social and educational group, so please keep social conversations uplifting and be supportive of one another.

3. 🎥 Camera On: Unless you've been pre-approved by Outschool Support to keep your camera off, please keep your camera on. Avoid using Zoom's background feature for safety reasons.

4. 🎤 Microphone Etiquette: Mute your microphone when the student president, a fellow classmate, or I are speaking. This prevents background noise during the meeting and while watching videos.

5. 🗣 Speaking During Discussions: During topic discussions in live meetings, please wait to be called upon by the student president or me. If it's a general question or statement, raise your hand in front of your camera to speak, helping maintain an organized conversation.

6. 👥️ Social Time: We'll have social time during the meeting, allowing you to chat with your peers in breakout rooms. Please wait for an announcement from the student president or teacher. In breakout rooms, refrain from discussing topics like arson, weapons, war, violence, or anything inappropriate. Breaking this rule may lead to ejection from the meeting and parental notification. Let's keep social conversations positive and supportive to ensure everyone's comfort.

7. ⛔️ Parent Participation: Parents, please remember not to be on camera or speak during live meetings per Outschool's policies.

8. 🤗 Safe Space: This is a safe space for all students to engage in positive conversations, offer support, and enjoy socializing. In breakout rooms during social time, there's a "Help" button for immediate teacher assistance if needed.

9. 🚫 Zero Tolerance for Hate:  Hate speech, disrespect, rudeness, name-calling, derogatory comments, and hateful opinions are strictly prohibited. Any member found in violation of these rules may be temporarily removed from the meeting and reported to Outschool's Trust & Safety Department. We all appreciate your efforts in making this a safe, fun, and inclusive club.

🏫 OUTSCHOOL TEEN CODE OF CONDUCT:

These guidelines ensure a productive and respectful learning environment:

1. ⏰️ Be on time and prepared for class.

2. 👕👖 Dress appropriately to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for all participants.

3. 🙂 Treat the teacher and your classmates with respect.

4. ⚠️ Actively participate, stay on topic, and minimize distractions.

5. 🤩 Contribute to a welcoming class environment for learners and teachers from diverse backgrounds.

6. 🚫 Keep personal information private and avoid asking others to share personal details.

🏳️‍🌈 NATIONAL GSA NETWORK GUIDELINES 🏳️‍⚧️:

See link:
https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/2020-04/guideline%20for%20discussions.pdf

🤔 EXPECTATIONS:

1. 🙌 Join us for our live video meetings. They take place on Mondays for 60 minutes and Thursdays for 75 to 90 minutes, with weeks running from Thursday to Wednesday.

2. 🏳️‍🌈 THURSDAYS: Enjoy a warm welcome, emotional check-in, a lesson on LGBTQ+ topics, open discussions, and the exciting Kahoot game on the following Thursday for a fun review of the prior week's lesson/discussion. Participation in Kahoot is optional. Then we will have free social time in breakout rooms!

3. 🏳️‍🌈 MONDAYS: Experience a warm welcome, an emotional check-in, "show & tell" about something new, fun, or fantastic in your life! Then we'll play a funny Mad Libs to start the week off with a good & hardy, laugh! We'll conclude with free social time in breakout rooms.

4. 🫴 Your active participation in the weekly discussion thread in the classroom and live video meetings is encouraged. Engaging in these discussions helps you process what you've learned and allows for ongoing conversations throughout the week. In GSA, we ARE ALL one big family! This club is all about teens, by teens, so your voice matters. 🌈 It's crucial to actively participate in our meetings by sharing your thoughts, answering questions, and bringing up matters that are important to you in the main room as well as the break-out rooms for social time. Additionally, members participate by looking for LGBTQ+ news (news video, newspaper, or magazine article within the last two months) and sharing the title and link to Dr. Kafferly via PM.

5. 🎥 📰 📺 💻 The main aim of a GSA is to foster community, this will foster collaboration between club members and ultimately create a strong community. In our club, we convene live online twice a week, Thursdays and Mondays. Members must actively participate in the weekly live video meeting. Meeting times are set for 60 minutes on Mondays and 90 minutes on Thursdays. Our weeks run from Thursday to Wednesday. 

Let's make this club a place of growth, understanding, and support for everyone. 🏳️‍🌈🌟

The cost for this weekly subscription is $22 per week, covering 1 hour on Mondays and 1 hour on Thursdays ($11 per live session, well below Outschool's suggested rate of $19 - $21 per live session). As a bonus, an extra 15 to 30 minutes is included every Thursday at no additional charge.