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Self Organizing - Community Trivia Project

Self Organizing - Community Trivia Project

Overview
Do you know who you congressman, mayor, governor, and councilman are? In what district are you a resident? Do you know whom to call when you have an emergency or when you need to report a concern in your community? How can you provide a service to your community that can drive positive impact in the area of education, environment or economy?

Many people don't know the answers to these questions. By developing a community trivia game to ask these types of questions and providing the answers with a brief discussion on each topic, you can teach people about their communities and how to gain support from the correct people and organizations.

Goals
  • Help community members learn about the people and resources that represent their needs, desires, and concerns
  • Guide people in understanding how to use the proper channels to create impact in community

Supporting Organizations
  • Schools
  • Community Centers
  • Faith-based organizations (e.g., church, synagogue, temple)

Materials
  • Host Assistant
  • Copies of the Answer Card
  • Computer with PowerPoint and projector
  • Noisemakers or buzzer system (optional)

Instructions
  • Identify locations where you can host a Community Trivia event for groups of community members.
  • Create a Community Trivia game with questions about your community. Consider categories such as elected officials, town history, interesting facts about neighborhoods, nonprofits or other places to volunteer, etc.
  • Develop a PowerPoint with the questions. A quick Google search will reveal several options for downloading a PowerPoint template for a Jeopardy-like game.
  • Tips on preparing for the trivia game can be found at here.
  • Prepare a hand-out with questions and answers for participants to keep after the game.
  • How to get people to attend:
    • Online Invitations - create an evite and send to local nonprofits, neighborhood planning associations, neighborhood associations, Community Affairs representative of corporations in your area, colleges and faith-based organizations. You may want to give a courtesy call to the businesses and organizations to obtain the best e-mail address.
    • Tangible Invitations - make the invitations and mail or distribute to the businesses and organizations listed above.
    • Be sure to include the following information in your invitation:
      • Brief description of purpose of this project
      • Your name, phone number and e-mail address or social media information (e.g., FB, Twitter, etc.)
      • Date/Time
      • Location
      • State that the course is FREE!
      • Quote of inspiration about the power of knowledge
Hosting the Trivia Game
  • Divide participants into teams. Each team could select a team name, develop a cheer or create other things to help them feel connected.
  • Have one team select a category and "dollar" amount for the questions. Ask the question. The first team to sound its buzzer or other noisemaker can answer. (If you don't have noisemakers, teams can call out their team names.) If the first team is incorrect, allow other teams to try. If no team answers correctly, provide the answer. Whenever possible, provide additional information on the topic.
    • For example, if the question is "What year was our town founded?" then some additional information could be "Our town is the third oldest in the state."
  • Keep playing for a designated amount of time or until you've used all the questions.
  • Reward the winning team! This can be as simple as applause or small tokens of things representative of the community.

Reflection
After your volunteer project, it is important to reflect on the experience - to think about what you did, what you learned from it and the impact it had. Here are some suggested activities:
  • Tell your family and friends about something you learned and if/how you will continue to help others.
  • Draw a picture, write a poem or create a jingle about the service activity.
  • Write about your experience on your blog, FaceBook or Twitter.
  • Write a letter to the editor to discuss your experience and encourage others to serve.
  • If you're working with a group of volunteers to do this project, lead a group discussion with questions such as:
    • Why did you volunteer today?
    • What did you learn about your community or helping others?
    • What is one thing you will remember most about this service activity?
    • How can you continue to make a difference in our community?