I am Gold! What a great feeling! A few weeks later I find out that Guinness doesn’t think my effort is worthy of recognition (after all, it is not the “Most hand claps in 24 hours” record). But, I have a new mission in life. To be the best I can be—in all aspects of my life. If I simply put forth the same effort I did on this trip, then I can achieve all of the goals that I have for my life.

In part 1 of this blog post, I discussed five of my reasons why you should want to get students involved in community service. But how do you get students to be involved in service to others? Here are five ways that have worked for me:

I believe there are five reasons why you should want to involve your students in community service and five ways that you can implement community service into your student leadership programs. Part 1 of this blog post addresses the “whys” – the “hows” are covered in Part 2.

This past September, I was recruited for combat duty by the Georgia Southern University Leadership Boot Camp. My job was to turn students into a well-oiled, combat-ready leadership machine. Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I was the keynote speaker and a break-out session presenter However, this blog entry is about what I saw the Georgia Southern people doing right and some ideas for you to use on your campus.

Students are on a steep learning curve as leaders. By creating a culture of student leadership on your campus, you will be playing an important part in student success! Their situations evolve rapidly throughout the year as they face new challenges and learn more about themselves, their leadership styles, and new leadership techniques. What do you do after the fall retreat to keep the learning curve going up? Here are five ideas you can use right away.

My friend, Dr. Jeanine C. Long, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Director of Career Placement and Development at Southwest Georgia Technical College in Thomasville, GA has had a similar experience. She sent me the following in response to my on-going request for people to send in their own stories of success, mentors, triumphs and more.

I am going to get on a plane in Atlanta on December 15 and fly to LAX airport (1941 miles). Then, I am going to return to Atlanta an hour later (1941 miles). And after I get to Atlanta? I am going to do it again! 3882 miles! That is 7,664 miles in a 24 hour period… All in a quest for gold – nd to get out of a rut!

Favorite moments so far: “Don’t Stop Believing” from the pilot episode; the football team scoring a touchdown while dancing to “Put a Ring On It;” the Glee Club version during an all school assembly of “Push It” and then Sue’s reaction… “That was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen and I am including an elementary school production of ‘Hair’;” the Slurpee episode, Kristin Chenoweth, and the “mash-up” competition.

This blog is not about any of those programs, but, rather, about what I did on my “off” day in Cleveland on Thursday, September 10. It was really awesome for me to be called on to serve and to dive in and do it and have fun. I believe that service to others is one of the most valuable things we can do.

Dave ‘Gonzo’ Kelly took this video in Orlando in July, 2009 during a leadership retreat for the SGA leaders of four of Valencia Community College’s campuses. This is a team building exercise called “Tummy HA HA”. It is a fun activity that helps with a number of the steps or “building blocks” in team building.

Dave Kelly, America’s Student Leadership Trainer shares the story of “George, the Drobble”, a story for people of all ages Dave wrote when he was 16. Our hero, George, seeks the secret of life which can only be found at the top of a mountain near his village. He encounters obstacles along the way but still manages to reach his goal.

I am a first generation college graduate, cum laude, who grew up in a mobile home in a trailer park on the side of a state highway, who only was able to afford to go to school because my parents were divorced and my mother made so little money that I qualified for government grants and loans. I have worked with thousands of college students over the years and my experiences pinpoint three keys to student success…

Dave Kelly has gone to campus after campus and watched student leaders struggle with trying to explain what the volunteer organization “Circle K” was—and what it was not! – “No, we are not the Circle K that is the convenience stores,” etc. Until he came up with the idea of having a defining statement.

Dave ‘Gonzo’ Kelly, America’s Student Leadership Trainer, speaks to student clubs and organizations about setting up an effective recruiting table at their next student activities event.

Four hours with a dozen key campus leaders is a grand opportunity for all of us to roll up our sleeves. It was practically one-on-one time… The president and vice president of the student government association… the outgoing president and a presidential candidate for the Hillel Club (which provides social and educational programming focusing on Jewish holidays, scholarships and history)… and a few more officers and candidates rounded out the attendees. With an intimate group like this, we can really get to the core issues that their campus organizations are dealing with every day.

“You know, for people who spend so much time in meetings, you sure don’t run them very well. A 9:00 am start time should mean 9:00 am! If not, change the start time!” I wrote. I meant it. I couldn’t help it. I was finally so frustrated that I wrote it FOUR MONTHS IN A ROW under the “what can we do to improve our meetings” category on the comments card at the monthly meeting. It all started so innocently…

The droning of a monotone voice from the front of the room. The meeting leader that sits in the middle of the floor and asks, “So what do you guys want to talk about tonight? Two things most of us will avoid like the plague!

Let’s make our campus club and organization meetings fun and interesting or just put us all out of our misery and stop having them! Here are a couple of my time-tested ideas to give things a kick in the pants.

This is some of the ‘best of the best’ that I’ve learned over 20+ years working with student organizations. My top 3, 5, 7, or 10 lists cover everything from skyrocketing student involvement, to holding great meetings and everything else that involves student leadership. Ask your student leadership questions here!

Community Service on our College Campuses – President Barak Obama calls for each of us to get involved in community service as a way to usher our nation through thee trying times. In support of that initiative, I help student organizations plan and execute service projects that have lasting effect. In this blog let’s discuss and learn the practicalities of fundraising and volunteer work. I guarantee you’ll walk away some great tools for success. I invite your school, club or organization to get involved in the conversation.