I am high school teacher and started a (very small) Skeptics Club at my school last year. We didn't really have a set goal or purpose and since pretty much all the students graduated, I will be more or less starting from scratch.
After attending TAM, specifically Skepticism in the Classroom and Grassroots Skepticism, I have begun making a calender or list of topics that the students can select for me or them to investigate and gather more info on. I very consciously have made the decision to separate Skepticism and Atheism – the first group of students were primarily students interested in discussing atheism but we didn't feel comfortable naming our group an Atheist Club. With the Skeptic title, I feel the need to ensure that all areas of the paranormal, pseudo-science and other flim flam and woo are the focus. Any students that want to further discuss atheism will be invited to come at another day at lunch, in order to make sure we don't alienate any students interested in skepticism who might have a religious background.
I am going to bring in copies of Skeptical Inquiry, Skeptic Magazine and various critical thinking books for students to borrow or reference. Ideally, I would like to invite local, scientific/critical thinking people to join us for the odd lunch hour "Lunch & Learn". I will have the ability (if not yet the knowledge exactly how) to set up a video conference as well. I am extremely lucky to be on the same green space as our Telus World of Science and have the potential to collaborate with their programs or facilities.
Anyone interested in contributing ideas, suggestions, skills and experience is welcome. I would love to challenge someone else to create a similar club that we can share ideas with and become pseudo-rivalary, as someone suggested at the grassroots workshop.
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