School Organizing Toolkit For StudentsSpring 2020

Updated for schools moving to virtual instruction in light of COVID-19

IntroductionJuniors and seniors can prepare to get Set to Go for the transition out of high school with The Jed Foundation’s interactive Text, Talk, Set to Go conversation, delivered to their small virtual groups through a series of pre-programmed text messages.

The Jed Foundation (JED) is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. Set to Go, a program of The Jed Foundation, helps high school students prepare emotionally for the transition out of high school.

Here’s how Text, Talk, Set to Go works:

Participants gather in small groups (3-4 people) with one cell phone per group (this can be done virtually through online technologies such as Zoom or Google Classrooms, or face-to-face with parents and family members). Groups text SetToGo to the number 89800 to receive a series of text messages that guides their group through a conversation on the transition out of high school: why it is important to prepare, how to prepare emotionally for it and how to create an action plan to promote success.

A student-parent/guardian track allows for these conversations to happen within the family and can be a great activity to do while everyone is at home. To join, the student and parents/guardians text SetToGo to 89800 and choose the family track.

The text messages include videos, social media interactions, polling questions and discussion questions. To learn more, please watch the information video on Text, Talk, Set to Go: http://bit.ly/TTSTGvideo.

This toolkit provides everything you need to organize successful Text, Talk, Set to Go events through your school or community.

If you have questions or need help, please feel free to reach out to Raquel Goodrich at raquel@texttalkact.com.

Win Cash for Your School or Club/ChapterEnter your school or club/chapter to win a $500 cash prize*! The school with the most Text, Talk, Set to Go participants during JED’s spring campaign wins! Chapters will be entered into a lottery. If your chapter is drawn from the lottery, it wins!

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Upon signing up for the contest, you will receive a unique organizer code for your school or club/chapter. During the spring campaign, be sure your Text, Talk, Set to Go participants enter the organizer code when prompted to do so. The school with the highest participation rate between March – May 2020 wins the cash prize**. To sign up for the contest, visit https://www.tfaforms.com/4695504.

* Contest winners will be asked to send a photo and description of their event for JED’s promotional use. One school and one club/chapter will win, for a total of two winners each receiving a $500 cash prize.

** For the school category, participation will be determined based on the ratio of total participants versus total students enrolled at the school.

Getting Organized

Below are three options for how you might organize your Text, Talk, Set to Go events.

OPTION 1: ORGANIZE TEXT, TALK, SET TO GO DURING VIRTUAL CLUB/CHAPTER MEETUPS

Work with faculty advisors to organize Text, Talk, Set to Go as part of your club/chapter’s weekly virtual activity. Check the Appendix section for a Teacher Lesson Plan and Instructions for Virtual Breakout Rooms (these materials also work for club/chapter activities).

› Reach out to student leaders and faculty advisors of school clubs

› Explain how it works and why it’s important.

› Share the faculty organizing guide with them (download at www.settogo.org/text-talk).

› Invite club leaders to try Text, Talk, Set to Go in a virtual meetup .

OPTION 2: ORGANIZE TEXT, TALK, SET TO GO IN VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS

Work with teachers to organize Text, Talk, Set to Go as part of the curriculum. Check the Appendix section for a Teacher Lesson Plan and Instructions for Virtual Breakout Rooms.

› Speak with teachers about doing Text, Talk, Set to Go in their classroom

› Explain how it works and why it’s important.

› Share the faculty organizing guide with them (go to www.settogo.org/text-talk to download the faculty version).

› Invite a group of interested teachers to try Text, Talk, Set to Go in a virtual meetup together.

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OPTION 3: BRING TEXT, TALK, SET TO GO TO EVERY JUNIOR & SENIOR AT SCHOOL

This option has the most impact but will require a bit more organizing. Below are steps to take to make it happen.

Make a Plan

1. Form an organizing team

› Consider including these people on your team:

› Juniors and seniors,

› School counselors,

› Teachers, nurses, coaches, principals, deans, etc., and

› Student leaders and faculty advisors of school clubs and organizations.

› Have your team give Text, Talk, Set to Go a try. Simply text SETTOGO to 89800 on a smartphone and follow the prompts.

2. Decide who else needs to be involved

› Get your principal/dean and guidance office on board early in the process. If your school has a college counseling office or program, be sure to include them as well.

› Schedule a virtual meeting with your principal/dean and/or the guidance office to:

i. Explain how it works and why it’s important:

1. Describe WHAT Text, Talk, Set to Go is,

2. Say WHY it matters to you and to other students,

3. Say HOW it will make things better for the students that participate, and

4. Propose WHERE & WHEN it can happen and ASK them to endorse and support it.

ii. Ask counselors to be on hand in case students have questions or need information or resources following their Text, Talk, Set to Go event.

iii. See sample letter to school leaders in the Appendix section.

› Keep in mind that classroom-sized groups work best. Some schools choose to bring TTSTG into virtual junior and senior English, Math or Science classes to ensure they reach all juniors and seniors (see the Appendix for a Teacher Lesson Plan and Instructions for Virtual Breakout Room).

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› Decide if the school wants to offer follow-up resources (check to see if the guidance office has additional college advising activities or resources that would pair with the Text, Talk, Set to Go event).

3. Spread the word

› Create flyers/email invitations/social media posts:

› Once you have a plan for your event, use the flyers, email templates and social media posts in the Appendix to spread the word.

› Share the how-to video: http://bit.ly/TTSTGvideo .

4. Add fun

› Add silliness (think costumes, mustaches, hats, #JEDSetToGo selfies).

› Add prizes.

› Join the contest!

› Win cash prizes for your school or club! Enter the Text, Talk, Set to Go contest between March – May 2020 and you could win a $500 prize for your school or club/chapter! Visit https://www.tfaforms.com/4695504 to sign up and learn more.

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APPENDICES

Pg. 6 Event FlyerPg. 7 InfographicPg. 8 How To GraphicPg. 9 Teacher Lesson PlanPg. 11 How to Create Virtual Breakout RoomsPg. 13 Email Template (to teachers/school clubs/etc.)Pg. 14 Email Template (to school officials and counselors)Pg. 15 Social Media Messages

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Teacher Lesson Plan

This guide is designed to help students get the most from their Text, Talk, Set to Go experience. This lesson plan outlines how to lead the Text, Talk, Set to Go activity in a virtual classroom or virtual club setting.

Lesson Plan

1. Introduce Text, Talk, Set to Go 5 minutes

› The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, created Text, Talk, Set to Go to help prepare students for their transition out of high school.

› In a few minutes, we’ll divide into small groups of 3-4 with one cell phone per group. I’ll place your group in a breakout room so you can talk with each other. Your group will text SetToGo to the number 89800 to receive a series of text messages to get you talking together about the transition out of high school and how you can prepare for it. The person with the cell phone will need to read each text message to the group and then let the group discuss it before moving to the next text message.

2. Text, Talk, Set to Go 30 minutes

Provide instructions & assistance to students

› Instructions

› Small Groups Matter. Invite students to divide into groups of 3-4 people. In a virtual setting, you will need to assign groups into different breakout rooms so they can talk with each other (see “How to Create Virtual Breakout Rooms” below). Each group should have one cell phone.

› Make Sure Everyone Understands the KEYWORDS. Let students know that they will receive a series of text messages to help them talk about getting ready for the transition out of high school. The script advances to the next question when you send a text that begins with the keyword. Keywords are indicated in CAPS at the end of each message. It works most smoothly if participants type the keyword and then any additional message they want to add all in one text. Most problems people report with the script are actually due to missing or incorrect keywords.

› Talk First, then Text. For questions that ask groups to text in their responses, it works best if participants discuss each question as a group and then one person types a short summary.

› Getting Started. When everyone is ready, invite them to text “SetToGo” to 89800, just as if 89800 were their friend’s number and “SetToGo” was where you would type, “what’s up?”

› Timekeeping

› You may also want to text “SetToGo” to 89800 and follow the prompts, letting the group know when it is time to move from one question to the next.

3. Closing Activity 10 minutes

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Lead a debrief of Text, Talk, Set to Go

› Once everyone is done with Text, Talk, Set to Go, bring students back together and invite the group to discuss a few closing questions. › What was it like to participate in Text, Talk, Set to Go?› Did you hear anything surprising?› Did you learn something new?› In the coming days, is there anything you would like to do to follow up on this conversation?› Are there any actions you want to take as a group to follow up on this conversation?

Troubleshooting› The keywords are NOT case sensitive. › It sometimes takes a few seconds for a text to come through, just as it does when texting a friend. › If students don’t get the next question, have them type the keyword again and be sure it is spelled

correctly and is the first word in the text.› If students get a message that isn’t about the transition out of high school, they typed the wrong

keyword at the beginning of your message. Have them go back to the last text that was on topic and type the keyword given there again.

› Most of Text, Talk, Set to Go works fine on any phone, but there are a few links that work only on smart phones.

› There is no limit to how long a message you can send. A phone may only show 160 characters, but Text, Talk, Set to Go will see your whole message.

› Rest assured that we will not share or sell participants’ information and all comments provided by participants are kept anonymous.

› Standard text rates apply, so groups should use someone’s phone who has a high or unlimited text limit.

We’d love to hear your group’s experience with Text, Talk, Set to Go! Please send comments to Raquel at raquel@texttalkact.com.

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How to Create Virtual Breakout Rooms

Text, Talk, Set to Go works best when students are divided into groups of 3-4. When doing this activity via virtual classrooms, this can be achieved by assigning small groups to breakout rooms. Below are instructions on how to do this using the most common technologies used by schools.

Zoom

Zoom has the capability to assign students to breakout rooms. You can choose to assign participants to rooms automatically or manually (depending on your students and how well they interact with each other). It also allows you to specify how many students you want in each room (we recommend 3 or 4 students per room).

To learn more, watch this Zoom video: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206476093-Getting-Started-with-Breakout-Rooms

Google Classrooms

Google doesn’t currently have a feature where teachers can create “breakout rooms” within the classroom. However, there is a workaround for this. Simply use your regular classroom to present students the information on the activity (or send students the written instructions provided below) and create separate Google Classrooms for each small group to join.

For more information: https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/thread/13047261?hl=en

Written instructions to send out to students before they join their small group’s Google Classroom

The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, created Text, Talk, Set to Go to help prepare students for their transition out of high school. Here are the instructions for this activity:

› For this activity, you will join a Google Classroom with two or three other students. I will send your Google Classroom assignment to you. Once in your Google classroom, pick one person to use their phone.

› Have the person with the phone text SetToGo to the number 89800 (see graphic).

› The phone will receive text messages to get you talking together about the transition out of high school and how you can prepare for it.

› To receive the next text message, type the KEYWORD (the word that is all capitalized at the end of the text message) and hit send.

› The person with the cell phone needs to read each text message to the group and then let the group discuss it before moving to the next text message.

› Troubleshooting and things to know: o The keywords are NOT case sensitive. o It sometimes takes a few seconds for a text to come through. o If you don’t receive the next text message, type the keyword again and be sure it is spelled

correctly and is the first word in the text.

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o If you receive a message that isn’t about the transition out of high school, you may have typed the wrong keyword at the beginning of your message. Go back to the last text that was on topic and type the keyword given there again.

o Standard text rates apply, so groups should use someone’s phone who has a high or unlimited text limit.

› Note: for schools joining the contest, please send these instructions as well: o There will be a text message asking for the school’s organizer code. Please enter our school

code so that we get credit for your participation. Our school code is [ENTER SCHOOL CODE HERE]

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Email Template (to teachers/school clubs/etc.)

Dear ________:

I thought you might be interested in this college preparation resource being offered free by The Jed Foundation that can be done with students in a virtual setting or with students and their parents/guardians.

Text, Talk, Set to Go is a program geared toward preparing high school juniors and seniors for college and the transition out of high school – an especially important conversation during these times. Now through the end of May, students can participate in the Text, Talk, Set to Go text messaging activity with their parent/guardian to help prepare them mentally and emotionally for the transition out of high school. For schools moving into virtual classrooms, teachers can bring the 45 minute activity to students through online classes, so students can have peer-to-peer conversations and discuss the transition out of high school together. As a bonus, our school/club can be entered into a participation contest, and the school with the most participants between March – May 2020 will win $500.

Here’s how it works:

1. Gather 3-4 high school juniors and seniors (use virtual technology like Zoom, Google Classrooms, WebEx, GoToMeeting) OR have students join with parents/guardians for the parent-student track**

2. Have groups use one cell phone to text SetToGo to 89800

3. Allow time for the group to have a 45-minute discussion using the text-enabled questions

4. Watch this how-to video to learn more: http://bit.ly/TTSTGvideo

I’d like to talk with you about doing Text, Talk, Set to Go in your classroom or afterschool club. Please help us get students prepared for for the transition out of high school.

When would be a good time for me to talk with you about this opportunity?

Sincerely ______________________

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Email Template (to school officials and counselors)

Dear ________:

I thought you might be interested in this college preparation resource being offered free by The Jed Foundation that can be done with students in a virtual setting or with students and their parents/guardians.

Text, Talk, Set to Go is a program geared toward preparing high school juniors and seniors for college and the transition out of high school – an especially important conversation during these times. With school closures and moves to online formats, our high school juniors and seniors are facing the end of their high school ventures sooner than previously thought. Especially for seniors, the final quarter of school is usually a time for celebrations and serves to help mentally prepare students for the coming transition out of high school. With students remaining at home, facing uncertainties of high school graduations, prom and other celebrations, they may be feeling much more unsettled than their younger peers. Now, more than ever, these students need strategies to help prepare them for the pending transition out of high school.

Now through the end of May, students can participate in the Text, Talk, Set to Go text messaging activity with their parent/guardian to help prepare them mentally and emotionally for the transition out of high school. For schools moving into virtual classrooms, teachers can bring the 45 minute activity to students through online classes, so students can have peer-to-peer conversations and discuss the transition out of high school together. As a bonus, our school/club can be entered into a participation contest, and the school with the most participants between March – May 2020 will win $500.

Here’s how it works:

1. Gather 3-4 high school juniors and seniors (use virtual technology like Zoom, Google Classrooms, WebEx, GoToMeeting) OR have students join with parents/guardians for the parent-student track**

2. Have groups use one cell phone to text SetToGo to 89800

3. Allow time for the group to have a 45-minute discussion using the text-enabled questions

4. Watch this how-to video to learn more: http://bit.ly/TTSTGvideo

I’ve put together a team to help organize Text, Talk, Set to Go at our school. Here’s what we propose:

› This spring, set aside 45-60 minutes for students to participate (this can be done through virtual classrooms).

› Have students gather in breakout groups of 3-4 and text SetToGo to 89800 on one of their cell phones. The group will receive polling questions, discussion questions and information by way of text messaging.

Here is what we will do to support the process:

› Provide all written materials and flyers for the event

› Help plan logistics with you and/or students

When would be a good time for me to talk with you about this opportunity?

Sincerely ______________________

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Social Media Messages

SAMPLE INSTAGRAM POSTS

› For Schools/Clubs

Text SetToGo to 89800 now!

Are you ready for the transition out of high school? #TextTalkSetToGo to get prepared!

› For Individuals

Who’s with me? Grab some friends virtually and text SetToGo to 89800 now!

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Are you ready for the transition out of high school? #TextTalkSetToGo to find out!

SAMPLE TWEETS

› For Schools/Clubs› 60% of students don’t feel emotionally prepared for the transition out of high school.

Let’s get everyone set to go with a fun, engaging virtual activity. Watch this how-to video to learn more: http://bit.ly/TTSTGvideo. #JEDsettogo

› This spring, our juniors and seniors will be doing a fun, engaging virtual activity to help get set to go emotionally for the transition out of high school. Visit settogo.org/text-talk for more info. #JEDsettogo

› Are you ready to start your post-high school journey? Gather 2 friends and text SETTOGO to 89800! #JEDsettogo

› My school is participating in #JEDSetToGo to support mental health! Thanks to @jedfoundation for this initiative.

› Get set to go to college and help us win $$ for our school! Grab 2 friends & text SetToGo to 89800 now! #JEDsettogo

› For Individuals

› I know I have more to learn about #CollegePlanning and transitioning to college life. Learn with me by gathering 2 friends virtually and texting SETTOGO to 89800. #JEDsettogo

› Today I’m working on emotionally preparing myself for college and ask each of you to watch something worth sharing http://bit.ly/TTSTGvideo #JEDsettogo

› Sometimes college will be emotionally draining, but I know that I’m not alone. You shouldn't be either. Visit settogo.org/text-talk to learn how to prepare. #JEDsettogo

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SAMPLE FACEBOOK POSTS

› For Schools/Clubs

› 60% of students don’t feel emotionally prepared for the transition out of high school. Let’s get everyone set to go with a fun, engaging virtual activity. Watch this how-to video to learn more: http://bit.ly/TTSTGvideo #JEDsettogo

› Preparing for college emotionally is often neglected. Visit settogo.org/text-talk to learn how we can prepare our students for college. Double bonus: help win $500 for our school! #JEDsettogo

› Let’s help students start the conversation on getting emotionally prepared for college. Visit settogo.org/text-talk to learn more AND help win $500 for our school! #JEDsettogo

› Attention staff that work with juniors and seniors! Help our students get set to go for college with a fun virtual classroom activity. Visit settogo.org/text-talk to learn more. #JEDsettogo

› For Individuals

› I know I have more to learn about college planning and transitioning out of high school. Learn with me by gathering 2 friends virtually and texting SETTOGO to 89800. #JEDsettogo

› Today I am working on emotionally preparing myself for college and ask each of you to watch something worth sharing http://bit.ly/TTSTGvideo #JEDsettogo

› Sometimes college will be emotionally draining, but I know that I’m not alone. You shouldn't be either. Visit settogo.org/text-talk to learn how to prepare. #JEDsettogo

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