The first Legacy Knights Numismatic Society meeting of the 2020-2021 school year is in the books.  We were able to register 20 members, and although we would have room for a few more, I am very happy.  Given how the pandemic has impacted how people think about social gatherings, 20 kids in an after school program is great.  It's actually right in the middle of our membership average over the years since we've started.  Maybe the pandemic is not as much a factor on our numbers as is the fluctuation in class sizes of eligible grades from year to year.  I'll have to look into that.
We started out with an introduction to LKNS for the benefit of our several new members, and as a review for the returning members who hadn't been to a meeting in a long time due to the cancellation of the last three months of in-person school events last year.  Some things could be dry, especially for kids, but if you keep them involved as you go through, and break it up with a few giveaways here and there, you can hold their attention awhile longer.
Normally we give out Red Books to our new members.  They are usually not current year Red Books; we ask for donations of Red Books from people who want to upgrade to the latest year, because it's not so much the latest prices that we need from these books as much as the information, grading guides, mintage figures, etc. that you can find in a Red Book.  I like the size of the Red Books because our students can throw one in their school bookbag without taking up too much space or adding too much weight.  Because we haven't been meeting with other coin clubs, we haven't been able to gather second-hand Red Books like we used to.  But we have a month to get some.\
Next month we have a special presentation about elongated coins for our meeting.  The Elongate Collectors Club (TEC) provided this lesson plan to us through a Miami Valley Coin Club member who attended one of the national ANA shows.  They made a nice donation of some souvenir elongated cents so that every member could have a couple.  I also managed to find a couple of 100+ lots of elongated cents on eBay for a great price.  You see these machines across the country but you don't realize how many there are until you start looking on places like www.pennycollector.com and sorting through them by state.  They are most common in zoos, museum gift shops, and other local tourist attractions.  The National Museum of the US Air Force isn't far from our school and they have 3 machines producing a dozen designs.  Kings Island has machines all over the park it seems.  The retired designs are fun to find.  I managed to find the last retired design of the NMUSAF (back when it was called the USAF Museum) that I was missing:  The Apollo 15 capsule.  Now I believe I have the complete "official" collection (I've come across a few others but I don't know if they were actually made at the AF museum or not).
It's so much fun seeing the kids getting interested in something, learning, and having fun together over a common interest.  I'd encourage anyone who loves kids first, numismatics second, to consider starting a YN club at your local school.  Schools need volunteers to help interest the kids in learning and developing their minds.  Numismatics definitely supports a good well rounded education through all the connections to history, science, math, economics, languages, and cultures.  Put together your idea for a club and approach your local school administration.   You should have a good basic knowledge of numismatics to start a club, but you do not have to be a professional at it or even know all the answers.  You will learn with the kids!  Being an organized person in your planning helps (I'm not great at that but am learning).  Being organized in running meetings helps too, but when dealing with kids, you can't let a little chaos get in the way of having a good time!  Know going in that the kids have limits to their attention span... structure is good, tyranny is not.  You'll have to keep them engaged by keeping it simple, keeping it moving, and keeping them actively engaged.  But always remember, the kids are more important than the coins.  If you believe that, you will make a good club coordinator.  What's most important to them is that you care about them, and will make a safe place for them to have fun while learning.  They will surprise you with what they learn!