Throughout school-based and city-wide Leadership Clubs, students learn the ASPIRA "process of awareness, analysis and action". The purpose of the ASPIRA Leadership club is to provide a forum for students to become aware of their culture and community while developing their leadership skills and advancing academically. Through the Leadership Club, students will have an opportunity to express their views and appreciate the opinions of their peers. Additionally, each club plans and implements at least one community service project that allows them to give back to their community.

Each club is led by a cabinet consisting of a President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. In addition, the clubs plan activities through work with three on-going club committees: Cultural Education, Community Action and Public Relations. All Leadership Clubs are represented at the ASPIRA Clubs Federation by their elected officers. Leadership Club meetings are facilitated by a Leadership Development Specialist who is a part-time ASPIRA employee. In order to be considered an official ASPIRA Leadership Club, all clubs must follow the Leadership club guidelines established by ASPIRA.

 The club must have a qpresent at each meeting.

Members must be initiated via the Areyto Ceremony in order to become Aspirantes.

The club must have a faculty advisor present at each meeting.

1. Attendance must be taken at each meeting.

2. Each club must have the following positions:

3. President

• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Committee Cairpersons

1. Each club must have three permanent committees:

   - Cultural Awareness
   - Community Action
   - Public Relations

1. Each school year club must do a community service project that focuses on social action.

President

1. Presides at all meetings and be punctual.
2. Has a clear understanding of parliamentary procedures.
3. Has a clear understanding of Leadership Club Guidelines and ACF Bylaws.
4. Develop business-meeting agendas.
5. Votes only in case of a tie.
6. Authorizes spending of club funds with Treasurer and Facilitator (LDS).
7. Serves as ex-officio (non-voting) member of all committees.
8. Represents club when working with ASPIRA and school administration.
9. Attends club and ASPIRA agency-wide events.
10. Writes monthly and annual report in conjunction with Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. Submit report to LDS and ACF Chairperson at the first club/ACF meeting of each month.
11. Meets weekly with club officers and Facilitator to review club progress and create agenda for next meeting.
12. Notifies the facilitator of changes in scheduling.
13. Serves as optional, ex-officio members of the ACF.
14. Consults the ACF Facilitator before any decision is made regarding fundraising events, spending of club money, and the use of the ASPIRA name.

Vice President

1. Presides at club meeting in the absence of the President.
2. Oversees all Leadership Club Committees.
3. Attends club and ASPIRA agency-wide events.
4. Writes monthly and annual in conjunction with President, Treasurer and Secretary. Submit report to LDS and ACF Chairperson at the first club/ACF meeting of each month.
5. Meets weekly with club officers and Facilitator to review club progress and create agenda for next meeting.
6. Sits as a member of at least one club committee.
7. Serves as representative to the ACF. Vote at ACF meetings as a representative of the Leadership Club, not as an individual. Sit as a member on one ACF committee.

Treasurer

1. Collects monthly club dues. (If allowed by the school). Amount of dues are decided upon by the club.
2. Collects funds raised through any club fundraisers.
3. Keeps accurate records of deposits and expenses.
4. Prepares monthly financial statements to be presented and submitted to President and Vice President. This will be included in the cabinet’s monthly report to be submitted to LDS and ACF. Chairs the first club/ACF meeting of each month.
5. Meets weekly with club officers and Facilitator to review club progress and create agenda for next meeting.
6. Consults the President and Facilitator before any decision is made regarding fundraising events, spending or disbursing club funds, and the use of the ASPIRA name.
7. Collects receipts for all expenses from members before they can be reimbursed.
8. Prepares annual financial statement to be presented to the club and submitted to the President and Facilitator.
9. Monitors club fundraising efforts.
10. Attends club and ASPIRA agency-wide events.
11. Sits as a member of at least one club committee.
12. Serves as a representative to the ACF. Vote at ACF meetings as a representative of the Leadership Club, not as an individual. Sit as a member on one ACF committee.

Secretary

1. Maintains accurate records of attendance (roll) for club meetings. Keep a copy of attendance sheet and submit original to Facilitator.
2. Maintains accurate records of club proceedings in minute’s book. Submit copy of minutes to President and Facilitator at the first meeting of each month.
3. Must always have a copy of minutes and Leadership Club/ACF Handbook.
4. Notifies all members and Facilitator of any changes in scheduling and special events.
5. Attends club and agency-wide events.

Minutes

The minutes should contain a record of what is done, and not what is said. Minutes contain:

• Date, place and time of meeting;
• Whether it is a regular or special meeting;
• Name of person presiding;
• Name of secretary;
• All main motions, whether adopted or rejected. A motion that was withdrawn should not be recorded;
• Names of persons making the motions—"seconded " not needed;
• Points of order and appeals, whether sustained or lost;

Club Committee Chairpersons

1. Meet at least once a month with committee.
2. Assign committee members to specific responsibilities.
3. Oversee work of the committee.
4. Write monthly report and update club at business meetings. Submit reports to President and Facilitator.
5. Take attendance at every committee meeting. Attach attendance sheet to monthly report.
6. Attend club and agency-wide events.
7. Consult President and Facilitator before any decision is made regarding fundraising events, spending of club money and the use of the ASPIRA name.

Notes:

• The Leadership Development Specialist is the club Facilitator.
• All monthly reports are to be submitted to the Facilitator at the first club meeting of each month and to the ACF Chairperson at the first ACF meeting of the month.
• Facilitator will be present at all club and cabinet meetings unless otherwise notified.
• Club President will be notified if there is a change in Facilitator.
• Although attending club and agency-wide activities is listed as a specific duty of club cabinet members, it is the responsibility of all club members to support events.

All committees are responsible for the following:

• Electing a Chairperson during club elections at the end of each year.
• Meeting to develop a plan for a particular action/event.
• Researching all detail pertaining to an action/event.
• Establishing task forces whenever necessary to carry out specific duties of a project.
• Considering financial requirements of action/event.
• Working in conjunction with other committees to carry out the work.

Cultural Awareness

1. Promote Puerto Rican/Latino culture and build pride in Puerto Rican/Latino heritage among the club members, the student body, and the community.
2. Promote knowledge of events and individuals related to the Puerto Rican/Latino experience.
3. Develop a plan of action to carry out at least one cultural awareness activity within the school or outer community.
4. Research and organize activities that involve the Puerto Rican/Latino culture and experience (i.e.: plays, museums, concerts, movies, etc.)

Community Action

1. Identify and research a major issue that the Puerto Rican/Latino community faces in New York. Issue should be selected by all club members.
2. Develop a plan of action to respond to the identified issue.
3. Carry out the plan through the club.

Public Relations

1. Create a positive image of ASPIRA and the Leadership Club within the school and surrounding.
2. Conduct year-around recruitment drives.
3. Create and post flyers to advertise club meetings and all special events. (Remember that all flyers must be approved by the ASPIRA Development Office before distribution)
4. Maintain and update Leadership Club bulletin board.
5. Create a club banner.
6. Document participation in activities (i.e.: pictures, essays, awards, posters, etc.)

Context
 
Bylaws are structures or regulations established by a group and passed under its authority.  These regulations specify what things may be controlled by the club.  Bylaws generally contain information on the group’s missions, purpose and objectives, committee structure, meetings, finances, and membership, among other policies.
 
The main difference between bylaws and laws passed by a federal, state body is that a bylaw is regulation passed by a body which derives its authority from another governing body. ASPIRA clubs, for example, gets their power to pass regulations through the ASPIRA State Offices which specifies what things the club may regulate through bylaws.
 
Procedure:
Please view the video: Wellington High School Young Democrats Club Installation and By — laws signing located at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNmNOd8iJw8 [8]

• Students will review, revise or create bylaws for their club using the outline provided (Handout 4.1: ASPIRA Club Bylaws Outline).
• Once Students have presented their suggestions, members will vote on the suggested changes.
• Debriefing

 
ASPIRA Club Bylaws Outline
 
This outline can be used to help participants create their Club By-laws.
ASPIRA Club of_________________

ARTICLE I: OFFICE
Where will the Club be located? Or will there be rotations. Is there a designated space, office?
 
ARTICLE II: CLUB LEADERS
Section 1.  Number:
Section 2. Members and their Terms:(Who will manage the Club? Qualifications)
Section 3.  Vacancies:
 
ARTICLE III: OFFICERS
Section 1. Number:  of officers
Section 2. Section 2.  Election and Appointments:
Section 3.  Duties of Officers:
Section 4. Resignation of officers:  (Rules of order)
Section 5. Removal of officers:
 
ARTICLE IV: MEETINGS
Section 1.  Weekly/Monthly Meeting:
Section 2. Place of Meeting:
Section 3. Notice of Meeting:
 
ARTICLE V: COMMITTEEES
Section 1.  Executive Committee and Powers:
Section 2.  Standing Committees:
Section 3.  Role of Advisor:
Section 4.  Amendments to By-laws:

 
The purpose of the business meeting is to conduct the routine business of the ASPIRA Club or ACF.  For a positive and productive meeting you need to define the purpose of the meeting. The Officers of the Club will need to develop an Agenda with clearly defined outcomes.   Agendas keep each meeting flowing smoothly, helping club members to be more productive. Moreover, productive meetings allow for sharing the responsibility for the Club meeting by working with other officers.
 
During the Business Meeting, the role of the Club President is to enable the team to work through the agenda and to agree on actions. The President should guide the discussion and make sure that the discussion is related to the agenda items and ensure that people know and understand the outcomes agreed upon before they are recorded.
 
Objectives:

• To guide participants in developing an Agenda for the Club Meeting.
• To engage Club members in an ASPIRA Club meeting conducted in parliamentary procedures.

 
Procedure:

• Icebreaker
• Club Officers develop agenda for meeting. Club meeting should be conducted in parliamentary procedures, with a set agenda, such as:
• Welcome by the club President
• Secretary’s and Treasurer’s report
• Committee reports
• Old business
• New business
• Other pertinent club reports

Taking the time to choose a good faulty advisor is very important. An advisor who does not attend meetings and does not provide you with good information regarding school policies is not a valuable resource.  An advisor should provide good advice regarding general club problems. His or her suggestions should be taken into consideration before making any final decisions.

• All clubs must have a faculty advisor who is a teacher, counselor or other faculty member from your school.

• Faculty advisors must be able to attend the club’s weekly meetings and must remain for the entire meeting.Try to choose and advisor who is familiar with, and advocate on behalf of, the club’s goals.

• The advisor should serve as a liaison between the school and the Leadership Clubs.

• The advisor should advise club members and the ASPIRA facilitator of school guidelines.

• The advisor should demonstrate good leadership skills.

• The advisor should allow the club cabinet members and general membership take responsibility for the club and activities planned by the club.

• The advisor should encourage club members to hold each other accountable.

• The advisor should keep in touch with ASPIRA’s Leadership Development Program staff.

Context

Developing a banner is a way of advertising your Club. It is a traditional marketing tool for promoting your Club. Also electronic banners can be utilized as a new marketing tool that occurs over the Internet. The objective behind utilizing traditional or electronic banners for ASPIRA Clubs is to increase the awareness of a particular club.

Procedure:
• Icebreaker: Students will view and discuss the video located at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUcTpum56bw [14]
 

• Facilitator will break the participants into groups by ASPIRA Clubs.
• Students will create an ASPIRA Club Banner following a set of guidelines provided by the Club Advisor (Handout 7.1A).  It is suggested that the banners be created first on paper (Handout 7.1B).
• Following instructions provided by the Club facilitator, participants will also visit their local ASPIRA websites and create email accounts

 
Handouts:
ASPIRA Club Banner Guidelines
 
Objective: To ensure every ASPIRA Club has a club banner that highlights their school spirit, cultural heritage, and ASPIRA pride. Every ASPIRA Club should have a banner that meets the following criteria:
1. Banner can be made from canvas, felt or other like materials.

2. Banners can include symbols, flags of the countries represented in your club, your school mascot, or any other decorations that will make them a unique identifier of your club.

3. Banner dimensions should be as follows: length of approximately 5 to 6 feet, width of approximately 3 to 4 feet.

4. Somewhere on your club’s banner, the following elements should be incorporated:

• • The words “ASPIRA”
• • The pitirre symbol
• • Your school/Club name

The following organizations and/or corporations are proud sponsors of our Youth Development Program:

• U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Program - ASPIRA Youth Leadership Development Research Project -The purpose of the project is to expand ASPIRA’s Youth Leadership Development Model as a tool for combating juvenile delinquency by addressing risk and protective factors through the ASPIR [16]A Youth-Leadership Curriculum. The project will demonstrate the efficacy of ASPIRA’s leadership model by evaluating the principles of the model through a research-based approach.

  The program will implement the ASPIRA leadership curriculum in specific school settings in each of ASPIRA Associate Offices, nationwide. It will be offered as a continuous program where students will participate for a total of three years, starting as either in middle school or high school. It will document the effectiveness of the model through a rigorous, evaluative process. Evaluation results will help build evidence-based research and program effectiveness as a model for Latino youth across distinct community sectors and states, including Puerto Rico. A major component of the evaluation will be a comparison study of participant and non-participant cohorts. At each site, 30 participants will be selected along with a 30 non-participant cohort with demographically similar characteristics that will serve as a control group.  Both groups will be tracked during a three-year period at each site.

• Walmart - The Wal-Mart Foundation approved a two year grant for ASPIRA to significantly expand its ASPIRA Clubs model nationally. The project has four components:
  COMPONENT 1: [17] Associates’ Component - expansion of existing clubs and organizing new clubs in the state;
  COMPONENT 2: National Component – expansion of the ASPIRA Clubs model nationally (in states where ASPIRA does not operate) in collaboration with other national and local non-profits;
  COMPONENT 3: National Dissemination – with mainstream national education organizations, such as the Council of the Great City Schools; and
  COMPONENT 4: National Media Campaign – to disseminate the ASPIRA Clubs model nationally as a drop-out prevention/leadership development model.
   
•  Darden Restaurants - ASPIRA received support from Darden Restaurants to implement an initiative to disseminate its Youth Leadership Development [18]drop-out prevention program model (ASPIRA Clubs) to over 100 Latino youth organizations across the nation to promote its adoption and to provide technical assistance to organizations implementing the program.

  The purpose of the program is to have non-profit organizations across the countries that serve large numbers of Latino youth, to adopt the program so it can reach thousands of students nationwide and significantly reduce the drop-out rate of Latino students. The overall goals of the ASPIRA model are to: a) ensure students remain in school, graduate and go on to college; b) develop leadership skills; and c) develop a commitment to their education and community service through volunteering. Specifically, ASPIRA proposes to expand the program by:

  • disseminating this model nationwide to at least 100 non-profits serving Latino communities; and
  • providing technical assistance and support to organizations and non-profits in implementing the program;

This provenly successful model program is designed to reduce the drop-out rate and promote positive development and education of at-risk Latino youth through leadership training, academic enrichment, guidance counseling, and community service.

Simply put, leadership development is an effort (hopefully, planned in nature) that enhances the learner's capacity to lead people. Very simply put, leading is setting direction and guiding others to follow that direction. A critical skill for leaders is the ability to manage their own learning.

As designed, the implementation of ASPIRA's Youth Development Program (YDP) will be made through the Aspira Clubs. As an Aspira Club, counselor you will have to facilitate the learning process of our Aspirantes. This curriculum is structured to assist this process. A collection of web resources is provided to enhance your knowledge about youth  development. Please use these resources to enhance the training process.

The history of the Areyto dates back to Taino culture. The Areytos were an important part of religious celebration for the Tainos. The whole tribe took part in these dance and music affairs held to celebrate important events of the village.  During Areytos, the Tainos sang about their historical past and about the brave deeds of their heroes. 

Through this ceremony, the leaders of the Aspira movement take an oath of commitment to work for the achievement of Aspira's goals no matter what hard work and sacrifices it will require of them.

The idea of incorporating the Areyto ceremony is taken from the Taino Indian ceremony where the leaders sang of the great deeds of their people. The Areytos were religious ceremonies that involved the entire Taino community and neighboring communities as well. Areytos were held in the main plazas at important times. Areytos were long celebrations that included ritual feasting, singing, and dancing. At Aspira, the Areyto ceremony has been developed by each generation of Aspirante leaders into today and it is already one of our traditions.

The Aspira Clubs Federation (A.C.F.) membership committee and Aspira Board of Directors are responsible for planning and conducting it.  The ideology behind the use of Taino symbols, language and rituals is to provide our youth with a sense of belonging to something ancestral, to understand our cultural and historic roots from which they will develop their own direction.  These are the symbols and ideology of a brotherhood of service.

The Areyto is a private ceremony in which the leaders of the Aspira movement are initiated every year. The participants are reminded that the oath is the oath of a lifelong brotherhood.  They take an oath of commitment to work for the achievement of the objectives of the movement no matter what hard work and sacrifices it will require of them. The oath is taken by candlelight or torches, with drums and maracas sounds in the background.  The Oath spoken first in Spanish followed by English (in the US mainland) to give the added importance and cultural connectedness to both the oath and the culture.

This ceremony is festive, rather than solemn. A prominent political official or community leader is usually invited as a speaker challenges.  At the end of the ceremony all initiated clubs members stand and receive the acceptance from the president and are accepted into the brotherhood.

 
Today, ASPIRA continues to celebrate the Areyto. It is an opportunity to celebrate the history of Puerto Ricans through cultural activities. The Areyto Ceremony concludes with students and staff pledging their support and commitment to their communities by reciting the Areyto Oath. Attached please find a copy of the Areyto Oath in English and Spanish. 

Materials Needed for the Ceremony:

• Candles – one for each student
• White carnations – one for each student
• One glass of water at the main table

Procedure:

• The club advisor will review and discuss on the Areyto Induction Ceremony.  
• Students will take part in an “Areyto” Ceremony.
• Each ASPIRA group/ Clubs will present an “offering” in the form of music, dance, poetry, or history all relating to Puerto Rico.
• Should music be selected as an “offering”, it should be Bomba or Plena, historical roots of Puerto Rico.
• Students from different countries will represent a country with music or dance.