I'm starting a chess club at school...suggestions?

Title says it all. I'll be the founder of a chess club at the professional school I attend and I'm looking for any suggestions you all may have for ideas. For now we're thinking we'll meet once a week to discuss some sort of strategy, opening, etc. followed by round robin blitz (5 min) games.

I'm looking for suggestions for ideas for how to make this club the most productive and fun from your collective experience. Some thoughts we had were somebody teaches the club a specific opening each week and then we play games based off that opening. Maybe we could go through and study various famous games and talk through them together. The only issue we have is nobody in the club is a high skill level, so having an advanced mentor is something that will be lacking. Your suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Peeps that don't really know how to play may show up.  So you may need to do *some* teaching.  But teaching/studying shouldn't be the main thing.  Reason being, if its not fun people won't come and most people don't find lectures that much fun.  You can still help each other learn by going over games played slowly afterwards -- *that* is a tradition of most serious chess clubs when time permits.  If you get enough people you can do tournaments.  But most likely you will get some people that can't really play with a clock and would be put off by doing a tournament, so you should just let members play how they like.  Some slow games with or without clocks, some blitz & some bughouse, and people can go over the games afterwards if they want.

Bottom line, don't overthink it.  See who shows up and what they want to do.  If people are having fun, they will come back and you can add other stuff as you go.  If people aren't having fun, they won't come back.  All that said, it wouldn't hurt to read an article on teaching chess in case you get some brand new beginners that show up.  

First you have to deal with the practicals, chess sets, chess boards and clocks if you are really serious about it, so how are you going to fund it, is your school going to help, , if not then you will have to go on a fund raising initiative, please let me know your ideas, maybe I can give you a few tips

I started a chess club about 15 years ago and spent money on clocks, boards, etc....but you should not do that to start. You will find that most serious chessplayers already have clocks and boards, so just bring one for yourself. All that is really required is one board with pieces for every two players. Also do not get discouraged....just keep going at the appointed time and the club will build slowly. A really good source of free publicity is the local newspaper.....after a 5 minute phone call or email they usually love to do it and may even run a story with photos in the paper! The obvious school resources will also work good for you....school newspaper, tell the principal, announce it in the morning (if they still do that?), put up flyers, tell your friends, etc....

To what Mecanicas and others have said, I would add a few more points.

I have never founded a chess club or anything like that. But here are some of the stuff I would do if I were

the founder:

• The first chess get-together will be the toughest. So deal with it. It would not be appropriate to start the first chess session with tactics training, endgame, opening etc. It's like the first day in the college. You don't do much on that day, just introduce the game and make sure that everybody knows what's "castling" and "en passant" is. Take your time to introduce the game and the rules clearly.
• The second chess class would be where I would like everybody to watch the movie "Pawn Sacrifice". It tells about the life of Bobby Fischer and is really, really inspiring for an aspiring chess player.
• The coming classes would be where you begin to drill slightly.SLIGHTLY.
• Once in a while you could ask some Class A, Expert players to come and lecture your club on specific topics. Max 1 hour. Lectures shouldn't exceed 1 hour otherwise people get impatient and will be dying to go home. 
• You could organize a monthly tournament with small prizes. There is even a free chess pairing software. Just google "Vegas Chess Pairing Software" and download the software from the website. I used this software recently to conduct a tournament in my college.
• Play chess variants like Crazyhouse, Antichess, Three-check, Bughouse etc. This keeps chess fun.
• The chess sessions shouldn't exceed 2-2.5 hours. People shouldn't feel like that they spent half a day or an entire morning attending the chess club.
• When the chess club becomes regular. You guys can do group tactical studies or something like "Who can solve the maximum number of problems in a limited time", or something similar to keep the club lively.

Of course these are my suggestions. See which one you feel you can apply to your club. On the other hand, this is the first time I am giving an advice like this to beginners. I am kinda laughing at how much trouble we have to undergo just to make chess look "FUN & COOL" to non-chess people. This is crazy. Of course interested people don't need all these catalysts and nitro-boosting. The interest has to come from within. 

I used to be a school governor and the school where I was funded the whole shebang using the school budget, including trips to other schools in the junior leagues and to tournaments in Wales, maybe your school has reserves for something of that nature

 P.S. To start just play and have fun, 10 minute or more games are better for learning than blitz, but you can do both. You may just attract a mentor if you keep at it.....a few masters actually walked into our club over the years just because it was there. Also to start you want to casually pair players of similar ability together (you don't have to tell them) so everybody wins once in a while....we had many players leave because they could not win....my wife even threw unrated games to them on purpose sometimes. Don't make everything stressful for the beginners, only have round robin tournys maybe once a month when they are ready. Always encourage, never discourage.

resign yourself to never dating.

We had an expert paid by the school who was an ex champion, again I will reiterate ask your school about funding, especially when it comes to teaching chess

I wonder how you become a chess coach, you probably have to have a very high rating, and do you need to have certificates or badges or something, and I know for a fact that here in Britain you do have to have a police check

Thanks for all your suggestions, I will pass this on to the other members who are helping me start the club.

To clarify, when I said at my professional school, I was referring to medical school. So these will be medical students playing/learning, not kids. So I'm not sure if that changes your suggestions at all. But I do like the general theme mentioned by you all as to keep it just fun and lightly structured in the beginning and let that build as time goes on. 

Cheerleaders and iced coffee.

I'm  a British regional chess coach. 1. Ensure that everyone gets an opponent.  2. Correct rules & sportsmanship. 3. Teach players to record games. 4. Divide the players into Beginners & Improvers. 5. Publicise the club with colourful posters.  Best wishes, Tony.

Start handing out fake titles and awards. 

How sadly true this is

I went for the dating instead😃

Thanks guys, but this thread is 3 years old. My dating life was full of adventures and wild nights until I settled down with my current gf. Chess club turned out pretty lame, but the glory of whispering in to girls ears at 2am that I was the founder and president of chess club was priceless. 

Rock on, my kings and queens