Family Night - All of this work is a "dress rehearsal" for the evening program. That evening we hold a "(Your School) Saves the World Family Night." If this program follows "Family Juggling Night," I have earned credibility and we will get a crowd. No matter what we will get a big crowd because every student is in the show, so parents need to attend. We may have such a big crowd that we need to meet at the local middle school or high school so we can all fit in the gym and still have room for activities. The evening program is between one and a half and two hours long. In the first half hour the kids present their pieces again just as they did in the assembly. Then I show about 30 additional minutes of the slide show. Then we have families work together in groups of 3 or 4 families for 20 minutes to come up with lists on big sheets of paper using marker pens telling what they can do. We post these around the room on the wall and quickly go over them together. Then parents from that school decide what they want to do next, which can range from doing nothing, to staying on top of the problem and working together to help with solutions.

I close the Family Night with everyone standing and taking the following pledge:

“Raise your right hands and repeat after me.”

“I take full responsibility,

For the entire planet,

And for all life on it.

And I happily share this responsibility

with all of you,

and with everyone else who cares.

I promise

to take this mission to save the planet

seriously

And to take myself

Lightly

I will do my best to be

The change I want to see

in other people.

If this change is to be

It is up to you and me.

Pass it on!”

We make sure that every family that has one shares their e-mail address. Then that night after I leave the school, I'll put together a data base with all the names for that school, and e-mail all of them a thank you note, and a consolidated list of the things they came up with. I'll urge them to stay in touch with each other on this issue, deputizing them to take care of their piece of the planet.