Are there some students at your school who have trouble finding somewhere to sit at lunch? Create more inclusivity in your school’s culture by designating a REDgen table in your cafeteria, a place safe for everyone to come and find friends at lunch. Have one or several REDgen members seated here each lunch period, eager to chat with anyone who wants to join. Invite friends who may not be a part of REDgen to join you here and enjoy building relationships with new people!

Talk to your administration about getting music played between classes, during lunch, or before/after school. Get a REDgen playlist together (or use ours!) and play songs based off of the monthly themes. Use Instagram polls to have your school vote on which songs to play. The possibilities are endless.

Offer services for your school’s students to get some much needed stress relief, like sponsoring therapy dogs to walk through the building during exam week, organizing nature walks at a local park or nature preserve, or partnering with other clubs. For example, make crepes with the French Club, co-sponsor a 5k with your cross country team, or plan a movie night with the Film Club, and offer these opportunities to the whole school.

Part of the REDgen mission is to change school culture. One of the best ways to do this is to speak with staff (teachers, counselors, administration) directly and let them know how they can incorporate more REDgen principles in their interactions with students. Bring your group to a staff meeting and give a presentation on what REDgen is trying to accomplish and give some ideas on how they can participate. Become a part of everyday conversation for the adults in your building.

Do you have any tech-savvy group members or a video class at your school willing to help record and edit some REDgen videos? Get your group together and record videos about the monthly themes, difficult situations and how to best react to them, tips for becoming more resilient, mindfulness sessions, and more. Share these videos with teachers to play for their classes, send them out in emails to your whole school, or get them in the parent newsletter on a regular basis.

Does your school have a newspaper? Take out an “ad” every issue and get out the monthly themes, meeting/event dates, quotes, advice, or other REDgen related information. Or, get a reporter to write an article about your group! You can also contact your local newspaper and get an article published for your whole community to see.

Get your REDgen group on the daily announcements. Share quotes, lessons from REDgen meetings, give advice, and more! It is also a great place to announce meetings and events your group is hosting. Try to stay consistent, showing up at regular intervals, and become a normal part of school culture.

Join your school’s sports culture by including REDgen spirit days as a part of sports traditions. For example, have students wear red for a day of homecoming week. At the announcements before a sporting event, have a REDgen member make an appearance to share about the group’s work and how it relates to all areas in students’ lives, from the classroom to the field. Talk to your athletic director about meeting with all the sports coaches and integrating REDgen lessons into practices and games.

Get the word out about REDgen with visual reminders all over the building and across your community. Share meeting and event dates, stress tips, information related to the monthly themes, inspiring quotes, or thought provoking questions. Use free services like Canva to make creating these flyers super simple. Once you’re done, put them up around school and in local coffee shops or other community areas.

Use your group’s REDgen Instagram account to engage your school’s students. Organize giveaways of REDgen merch (sweatshirts, water bottles, etc.), create a Stories campaign, put out polls, post about meeting/event dates, and post about Roots of Resilience. There is so much potential to be both informative and engaging while also growing your group’s reach.

Finding purpose in the communities we are a part of is a component of Roots of Resilience. Organize your group for the benefit of your community by starting a service project, visiting a home for the elderly, or volunteering with another group at work in your area (such as a nature preserve, animal shelter, or food pantry). This is a great way to practice the components of REDgen beyond the walls of your school building!

Many schools send frequent parent newsletters with updates on what is happening in the building. Put together some materials to send home to parents about REDgen and why it is so important, like videos or infographics. Keep a regular section on the newsletter to be consistent with your messaging. Invite parents to your group’s events and encourage them to learn more about REDgen’s mission and incorporate it at home.