How I Started My Hack Club

I led a club at my school in South Carolina, and I'm thrilled to hear that you're starting a club at your school. If you have any questions during this process, feel free to reach out via email ([e-mail]) or the Hack Club Slack (@thomas).

Enjoy this comprehensive guide on how to help you start your Hack Club:

1. Deciding To Start A Hack Club
2. Forming A Team (optional)
3. Finding A Teacher Advisor/Sponsor
4. Getting School Approval
5. Get Onboarded

Deciding To Start A Hack Club

I remember when I discovered Hack Club, and was considering starting a club, I had some fears:

1. Fear of starting a club
2. Fear of attracting members
3. Fear of leading meetings

These are valid fears, but then I realized the joys that would come out of running a Hack Club at my high school.

1. Joy of starting a club
   Starting a club gave me the opportunity to help students at my school discover the joy of coding. If done right, my club will be a lasting contribution that will thrive for years to come (even after I graduated). It was an opportunity for me to create the space I wish I had at my school. It brings me great joy that even though I graduated last semester, my club is being continued by my friend, Jaime (wooh go Jaime)!

   
   (here's a photo my co-leader took randomly while I was presenting during a club meeting)

2. Joy of meeting members
   By leading a club, I made a bunch of friends and created my own community. I was motivated by the fact that I didn't feel there was a community for makers at my school, so I decided to make one! It's really awesome that I was able to bring a bunch of awesome people into my life by creating this community at my school. Plus designing posters & promotional videos is really fun!! Here's a club poster we made

3. Joy of leading meetings
   Leading a club was a great opportunity for me to learn and to teach others. It allowed me (the club leader) to learn new topics so well that I could teach those topics to my club members. I used my club as an opportunity to explore game development, circuits, virtual reality, and many other interesting topics. I probably learned just as much through leading my club as my members did through being a part of my club.

   
   (from chess in Sprig to Egypt in A-Frame VR & everything in between, I was able to make a bunch of really awesome projects in preparation for our club meets)

   I knew that if I wanted a community of makers to exist at my school, I was the only way that community was going to come into existence. The burden lies on the hacker to bring to life the vision for how they believe the world ought to be.

   By the way, here are some cool things Hack Clubs get:

   1. $100 Pizza Fund
   2. Free Hack Club Stickers
   3. Free openAI tokens
   4. Free Clubs Scrapbook
   5. 20+ Club Jam Activities
      & much, much, much more

Forming A Team (optional)

I remember pitching the idea of co-leading my club to my best friend Dieter (who now leads the Hack Club Instagram) about a year ago.

His first response was wondering "why doesn't something like this already exist at our school." At the time, he wasn't very technical, but he was really excited about starting our club and his perspective on code difficulty was of great benefit to our club.

He provided our team a glimpse into how club members with little technical experience would encounter issues with some of the meetings we were preparing. His perspective allowed us to design very well with beginners in mind.

(spoiler, he was right! The Beginner Tutorial took 60 minutes)

We recommend having 2-3 people running the club. When choosing your team, consider close friends who you think have strong leadership skills. In fact, leadership skills are far more important than technical abilities. Great clubs have been started by leaders that have never coded before.

Finding A Teacher Advisor/Sponsor

About a year ago, I remember pitching to my Computer Science teacher the idea of being a teacher advisor for our club. I said something along the lines of:

Hi Ms. Orpheus! I'm starting a Hack Club at our high school. It's essentially a computer coding club where students meet regularly to build things like apps, websites, and games together. I've put together a leadership team, and I'm currently looking for a teacher sponsor for the club. I just emailed you a presentation with more information about Hack Club. Can we check back in tomorrow to see if you'd be willing to be the advisor our club?

Here's the presentation that I emailed my teacher

My teacher sponsor was the person who got us a classroom for after-school meetings. My teacher sponsor was my club's advocate.

Computer Science, Math, or Science teachers are all great candidates for teacher advisors! You'll want to get your teacher sponsor to commit to providing a space for each of your meetings at a set time.

The experience of getting a teacher sponsor varies widely from school to school. At some schools, you'll find a good teacher sponsor on your first try and at others, it'll take talking to 5-6 teachers. The most important thing is to be persistent.

Getting School Approval

When starting my Hack Club, I went to the main office and asked school admin: "How do I start a club at my school?"

Every school has a different process, but my school had a form for me & my teacher sponsor to fill out. Most schools (including mine) had some concerns with the word "Hack," but with some convincing can overcome these concerns.

If you have concerns about your school not approving your club because it has the word: "Hack" in the name, here's a little document we prepared to ensure your club knows that Hack Club is a legitimate non-profit.

"Legitimacy Document For School Admin": Figma File Printable PDF

My school also required signatures from students showing proof that there was a demand for a Hack Club at my school. I went around lunch and got signatures from anyone remotely interested in the club.

I suggest going to the main office and asking your school admin how to start a club at your school.

Getting Onboarded

Awesome, after getting my club registered with my school, I was able to officially start my application and bring my Hack Club to life!

Here's a link to the application where you can get your club started: https://apply.hackclub.com/

Once you complete your application, you'll receive an email from Holly! Holly will set up an onboarding call to go over all the next steps and other resources.

hi! I'm Holly from Hack Club HQ in Vermont! I'm here to support every Club Leader!

Holly is awesome! She will actually read your application & when you come to the meeting you'll feel like she already knows you! It's great! I was really surprised when I joined my onboarding call and she said she had already listened to an episode of the podcast I co-host with Dieter and has subtly mentioned in my application!

Congrats, I'm so glad you decided to lead a club at your school. I look forward to seeing you on the Hack Club Slack (@thomas) or at an irl Hack Club event!

Thomas (Club Leader Alum)

(p.s. wanna get really motivated to start your club? When I first discovered Hack Club, I searched on YouTube for Hack Club related podcasts! I found this interview w/ Zach who founded Hack Club! It was super inspiring & motivated me to start my club.)