By John Hinman, Managing Director with Nexus 5 Group
During the summer of 2018, Scott Bacon, Principal at Blue Valley High School and Vince Stephens, dad of a Blue Valley Student had a conversation. During this conversation Mr. Bacon, said “we need help, we are losing our kids.”
Vince asked how he could help, Mr. Bacon indicated that he needed dads to be present and to get involved. A few weeks after this conversation, Vince met Brad Holdhusen at a fundraising event for Blue Valley Football. They discussed Vince’s conversation with Mr. Bacon. From this conversation, Vince and Brad knew something needed to be done.
They invited 8 dads to an initial brainstorming meeting on Brad's deck, August 1st, 2018. This meeting was an incredible moment where dads came together, heard Brad and Vince's story about the conversation with Mr. Bacon, and The Father's Club was born. Attendees at this meeting were Brad Holdhusen, Vince Stephens, Jeff Johnson, Mike Rothwell, Allen Terrell, Randy Bratton, Tyler Lopez and I (John Hinman).
From that meeting a brush fire was started and the word spread rapidly. We reached out to our network of dads at Blue Valley High School. We shared the vision and that we needed them to show up and get involved. We had a meeting in the Blue Valley weight training room on Sunday August 19th, where 26 dads showed up. We knew something special was happening.
Our kickoff event was the first ever Chicken Biscuit morning. We handed out 800 Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits to the students on the first day of school. There was an amazing buzz throughout the school that day and things grew quickly from there. Dads started helping out with the Tiger Pride class, having seminars during lunch, chaperoning the school dances, helping to build floats, being trained in Mental Health First Aid and many other activities.
What started as a group of dads trying to make a difference at their high school has turned into Father’s Clubs in sixteen high schools in Johnson County. And we're just getting started.
The Father's Club Mission Statement
The Father’s Club is a dad-led, grassroots effort creating simple ways for dads to be intentional with their KIDS, with other DADS and within their COMMUNITY. With resolve, humility, and love, our mission is to be a catalyst for positive influence around the world.
The Father's Club Core Values
The Father’s Club recruits its leadership with those who identify personally with our culture. Finding dads who fit is one of the most important components of creating a compelling culture that lasts. The Father’s Club culture isn’t just lived by its leaders, we want all who come in contact with us to experience our servant leadership culture. Our process focuses on our core values:
Others First – We put others first to serve our families and the community. We act with humility and count others more significant than ourselves.
Personal Excellence – Whatever we do, we do it with excellence. We desire to excel, in speech, in knowledge, in actions, and in love.
Integrity – We are commanded to live a life of the highest honor and integrity. We desire a character that brings goodness to all we come in contact with.
Work Together – We are one body with many members. We are joined and held together by every member. We love one another with friendly affection and strive to outdo one another in showing honor.
Accountability – We strive to be truthful and trustworthy. We allow ourselves to be held accountable by other men so when challenges come in our lives, it helps us to accept responsibility and press ahead with a renewed purpose.
Lead Courageously – We strive to be strong, courageous and to get involved. We are not afraid or discouraged when we have the body of men to support us.
To learn more about The Father's Club (including which high schools already have a chapter or how to start a chapter), please visit the website.
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