The Origami Forum

Hi guys. I'm planning to start an origami club at my high school. I see a lot of potential in this idea but i may need a little bit of advice. Some of the activities I'm planning to do are:

1.Teach people how to fold basic to moderate models(possibly complex if i get strong folders)
2. Make paper and experiment with folding techniques
3. Teach people how to work with crease patterns
4. spread the knowledge of origami by having my club visit a middle school and teach children how to fold
5. potentially get people to start designing
6. use origami to help the school decorate for events / holidays

However...starting a club is completely new to me... can you guys give me a heads up on what to expect or share experiences of your own club. Teaching techniques or additional ideas for activities would also be helpful. I know from my experiences in origami in making can get quite frustrating. So i want to create this club to allow people to see past intimidating folds and see the grace and pleasure of origami.

It's a lot of work, requiring organization, salesmanship, and a friend or two to help. Depending on your school, you may need a faculty sponsor.

1. Consider 3 levels - introductory (What is a fold?), Beginner (How to fold the flapping bird), Advanced (How to fold the different bases and CPs) [My categories are unrelated to Origami experience] Focus on introductory, but have the other two ready in your back pocket, just in case you have quick learners.
2. Meetings should only last one hour, but you can have additional folding sessions of any length.
3. Set a regular schedule for the meetings - once a week, every two weeks, or once a month. Create a repeatable agenda: Show some advanced models, show an attainable model, and shoot for a simple model that can be completed in the meeting. Prepare about 5 minutes of concrete info about Origami.
4. Designing and Making paper are fairly advanced.
5. It's too late for Mother's Day Origami, but you can show some appropriate models... But the Holiday idea as a defined goal is a good target to shoot for....
6. You'll have to remind everyone, organize the meetings, and keep things motivated for the first couple of months...

Good Luck,
Hank Simon

Thanks for the tips. I can already tell this will be a challenge . I found a lot of people who want to learn but only one of them has decent experience. As for a sponsor i still need to look for one, but i'm sure finding someone else thats responsible, trustworthy, and experienced will be even more difficult...