Interested in creating communities where each individual feels that they matter?

1. Have at least one faculty or staff advisor who can be regularly involved in club organization and meetings 

2. Have at least two club leaders from different grades, one of whom is not a senior 

3. All student leaders are required to attend an online leadership training 

4. Host at least 8 club meetings over the course of the academic year

The Mattering Project builds communities where every individual feels that they matter, where they are valued and can add value to the world.

The Mattering Project club teaches members to build communities where every individual matters by providing the tools to identify genuine needs and innovative solutions to meet those needs.

While every Mattering Project club shares the same mission, each club develops its own projects, which are guided by the needs of their communities.

Each Mattering Project Club follows different roadmaps to promote mattering through meaningful social impact work.

Clubs are supported by the Mattering Movement. We provide meeting agendas, resources, and scaffolding tools for social impact projects. Students are also supported by a network of other students engaging in Mattering Projects at other schools.

Clubs can decide on their specific focus and Mattering Project, either by creating their own initiatives or by following a Mattering Project template for bringing about meaningful change.

The focus of projects can either be within school communities (initiatives to foster kindness, mental health, peer to peer mentoring), or outside (addressing larger issues such as homelessness, food insecurity, educational inequality).

Whether inside or outside school communities, the Mattering Projects promote mattering by allowing individuals to experience their own unique gifts and value and to add meaningful value to the world.

Your club can foster mattering by creating projects that focus on your school community. Here are some questions to ask your group:

• What could be improved in my school or community?

• Are there people who feel lonely in my community?

• Are there systems that could be improved?

• Are there members of my community who are invisible?

• Are there spaces for gratitude and recognition or are only some members of our community recognized?

• Do all the people in my community feel like they matter?

• Are there inequalities in my community that can be addressed?

• Are there excess resources that could be redistributed?

• Is there a strong sense of community and belonging?

• Can my community be educated about issues that are important locally or globally?

Examples of Internal Projects include:

• Create a mentor program between new 9th graders and 11th or 12th graders so that new students feel welcome at your school.

• Create name tags for everyone in your high school to wear on the first day of school so that new students feel that they are part of a larger community where every person matters.

• Create a recognition program for members of your school community, including teachers, administrators, or staff. This can take the form of conducting short interviews with photos to share on a bulletin board at your school.

• Conduct interviews with members of your community who might not be known, including kitchen, security, and building staff, and create a display with photos and information about these individuals.

• Create a kindness campaign where individuals write notes of gratitude to members of the community several times a year.

• Raise awareness about the importance of empathetic listening and meaningful recognition in your community through talks or Public Service Announcements.

You can also promote mattering by bringing members of your club together to address issues in your larger community.

Here are some examples:

• Raise awareness on your campus about a larger issue such as homelessness, food insecurity, or educational inequality. Write about them for the school newspaper. Create Public Service Announcement posters to share at your school.

• Identify local organizations working to address larger issues and explore a partnership with your school.

• Explore a food donation program at your school to reduce food waste in your community while feeding your neighbors.

• Can students in your school serve as mentors or teachers to other students in the larger community?

• Could you serve as a teacher assistant or offer special help to students at an under-resourced neighborhood school?