Jersey Shore Club… Not Gonna Do It
During our leadership club planning brainstorming meeting we came up with a ton of fun ideas. As you can tell, we have a lot of theme clubs, which the students really enjoy. Sometimes the themes having something to do with current events (i.e. Super Bowl Club, Olympics Club, Prom Club, etc.), other times they have to do with things the kids are into (i.e. Harry Potter Club, Jerk Club), and other times they really don’t have any relevance (i.e. Yellow Club, Bubblewrap Club).
For a long time I have observed that YL leaders often don’t have to “read up” much on youth culture or scour the web or magazines to see what is “hot”. The good YL leader already knows because of our front-line involvement. In fact we could probably be reporters for all those websites and magazines if we needed some extra money. I will add that we can learn much from other people’s helpful analysis.
So back to the story… One of the ideas that our leaders brainstormed was to do “Jersey Shore Club”. If you work with kids, you know what that show is all about. At first glance it could be fun and honestly I bet it would be a huge hit. The games would be a crack-up and the skits would be easy. I thought the guys would have fun grease-ing up their hair and wearing tight shirts. Then I started to think about how the girls would dress and what kind of attitude they would adopt for the club. That instantly killed the idea in my mind.
In my application of the YL club as a tool, it occasionally straddles the line of “should we really do that”? In my 15+ years of YL I have made numerous mistakes with things I’ve tried and I feel like I have struck a good balance of “edgy” and “above-reproach”. Maybe there is a way to use this idea in a way that makes sense, like in a skit or program that mocks the whole thing. But in our club a lot of kids dress up and play up the whole idea of whatever it is we are doing. So it is a no-brainer. Just like the old SNL skits says… not gonna do it.
How do you decide where the line is? What lessons have you learned?
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We're actually doing this tonight. I sent a message
Brian Robertson | February 8, 2010 | 12:50 pmWe’re actually doing this tonight. I sent a message a few days ago to the group telling the girls to dress appropriately and just poof up their hair like Snooki. Hopefully they will listen. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’m thinking that instead of an official “Jersey Shore” Club, a clever walk-on with Jersey Shore guys would have been the better idea.
Brian... I think it could totally work. I just know
PHSYL | February 8, 2010 | 11:53 pmBrian… I think it could totally work. I just know a few specific kids in my club that simply couldn’t control themselves with this theme. We’ve even talked about. I hope you have a great time with it! I think it is great you got the word out about how to have it be fun.
Try it as a Run-On, that's what we're doing :)
Emilionaire | February 9, 2010 | 7:35 pmTry it as a Run-On, that’s what we’re doing
Our kids are stoked, ready to sit down and write scripts and go thrifting with us leaders for outfits. So for audition tapes, scripts @ Club, etc, us leaders have the final say in it all. A Walk-On would work as well 
Hooray and can’t wait for all to say.. “party’s hurrr!”
Doing it as a Walk-On as well. Just easier to
Matthew | February 10, 2010 | 8:07 pmDoing it as a Walk-On as well. Just easier to control. And I LIKE CONTROL! haha
We did it, and it went about as well as
Brian Robertson | February 11, 2010 | 8:56 pmWe did it, and it went about as well as I could have hoped for. Luckily, it was a pretty chilly evening, so the girls were forced wear more clothes than they might have wanted. The kids had a blast, and it gave me a chance to use the show in a sin talk.
I’m relieved that it went well, but would probably not recommend it since it could get pretty inappropriate if girls decided to dress ‘the part’. Thank God for cooler temps!
Emilionaire - I just did a fist pump in your
PHSYL | February 11, 2010 | 11:52 pmEmilionaire – I just did a fist pump in your honor
Matthew – I think the skit is a good way to control it. What did you do?
Brian – Probably good about the weather. But I was curious to see how it would go! I bet it would have been fine. Usually when I think ahead it never works out the way I think it would. It is always when I didn’t even think of it that I get surprised.
We did a walk on - LWoww (leader names Laura)
Becca | February 12, 2010 | 2:49 pmWe did a walk on – LWoww (leader names Laura) and the Situation came to club to teach us how to do our hair. We watched video of Pauly D giving hair instructions (found it on youtube and it is clean) before they came on to the clean version of the theme song. They brought up 3 girls and 3 guys and gave the guys teasing combs and hair spray and 2 min to get the girls hair as high as possible. Amazing. They will be coming back at Tacky Prom club to run the “pick up lines”.
We had a guy leader do a walk-on and then
Adrienne | February 18, 2010 | 7:34 pmWe had a guy leader do a walk-on and then lead a very similar hair skit with 3 girls and 3 guys. One pair had gel, one had mousse, and one some other hair cream.
On a related note, I teach at a diferent high school, and for winter homecoming, the kids had chosen one of the spirit days to be Jersey Shore day. Well, the principal came on the intercom the day before and announced that it had been changed to Disney Character Day. I guess someone must have alerted the administration that maybe it wasn’t a good idea…but the kids were pretty mad.
We did "Jersey" Shore club and had everyone wear jerseys
Becca | February 24, 2010 | 11:12 amWe did “Jersey” Shore club and had everyone wear jerseys in order to avoid any risky outfits. It was really fun. We did the egg drop skit and had the guys spike their hair up with the raw eggs! We sang “Eye of the Tiger” and other such songs, and the run-on was Jersey Shore themed too.