Submission to OTF writing contest

Salmon Junior Senior High School Chess Club Constitution

Preamble:

The SJSHS Chess Club’s purpose shall be to provide opportunities for students of Salmon Junior Senior High School to organize with other students and play chess casually or competitively with players of all levels.

Article I. Organization

This organization shall hereby be called “Salmon Junior Senior High School Chess Club” or “SJSHS Chess Club” for short.
The organization’s headquarters shall be located at Salmon Junior Senior High School.
The address of this club shall be

Salmon Jr./Sr. High School
401 South Warpath Drive
Salmon, Idaho 83467

This club shall meet in Mrs. Christiansen room number 17 from 4:15 to 5:00 on Wednesday for the 2025-2026 school year.
The previous statement shall update every year to meet the needs of whatever monitor so volunteers without the need for amendment.
The monitor may either reschedule or cancel meetings with the Secretary in cases of conflict with schedule.
The President shall be in charge of seeking out the next year's monitor.
Meetings shall only take place on days on which the monitor can be present to supervise the meeting.

Article II. Purposes

To promote the game and learning of chess.
To participate in events to promote the learning of chess.
To provide students at SJSHS the opportunity to participate in a student led club.

Article III. Membership and Attendance

Any students enrolled in Salmon Junior Senior High School are eligible to attend.
To be considered a member of the SJSHS Chess Club you must:
Attend at least 1 meeting every month or have reasonable excuses for absences given to the Secretary, beforehand if viable.
Members must participate in all activities hosted by the club. Absences due to untimely or urgent need for any member shall be excused.
If a member cannot attend the meeting and has knowledge of this beforehand, then notice and explanation must be given to the Secretary to excuse you.
This organization shall not deny membership to any person on the basis of race, religion, sex, gender, sexual affection/orientation, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, ethnicity, national origin, color, language or creed.

Article IV. Committee and Officers

President:
The President must be a freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior in the school year he/she is elected in.
have participated as a member of the club for at least one year before.
If there are no candidates for any of the officer positions then the President shall assume their roles.
The President is in charge of organising the activities at regular meetings, together with the Tournament Director if the President chooses so.
The President may act as a representative of the entire chess club if need be.
The President must attend every meeting. If for some reason the President cannot make the meeting, the Vice President must attend and host in his place.
Vice President:
The Vice President must be a freshmen, sophomore, junior or senior in the school year they are elected in.
The Vice President is to assist the President in any way he/she requires.
In the event of the President’s resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Tournament Director:
The Tournament Director may be from any grade between 8th through 12th grade.
The Tournament Director shall be responsible for arranging and organizing all tournaments and matches.
The Tournament Director shall be responsible for collecting all tournament results
Treasurer:
The Treasurer may be from any grade between 8th through 12th grade.
The Treasurer shall be responsible for managing all club finances.
The Treasurer shall be consulted for any purchases made with club finances.
The monitor or principle shall be aware of any purchases being made with club assets.
Secretary:
The Secretary may be from any grade between 7th through 12th grade.
The Secretary is in charge of keeping track of attendance at all meetings and events.
The Secretary is in charge of determining who is a member of the club based on their attendance.
The Secretary is in charge of hosting all elections in the club.

Article V. Qualifications and Responsibilities of Monitors

Monitor must be a district employee.
No school employee shall feel compelled to be the monitor of this club.
The monitor is responsible for monitoring the meetings to ensure that all attendance at the meetings is voluntary.
The monitor is responsible for ensuring that the meetings of this club do not materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities within the school.
The monitor is responsible for ensuring that order and discipline are maintained at the club meetings.
The monitor must be present for club meetings to commence.

Article VI. Elections

All elections shall be organized by the Secretary. Except those to impeach the Secretary, those shall be held by the Treasurer.
Elected officers shall hold their position from the start of the school year until the start of the next school year. Elections shall be held for all offices.
Nominations shall be held within the spring semester, no earlier than February 15th, no later than March 20th. All elections shall be held within the spring semester, no earlier than March 15th, no later than April 20th.
Nominations must be given to the Secretary.
All nominated candidates’ names must be legibly printed on the ballot with a box to be filled in beside each name.
Only members of the club are eligible to vote or run for offices.
The Secretary must verify that all voters receiving ballots to vote are members of the club. The Secretary then shall be the one to collect all ballots from the voters after they have voted. The Secretary shall then count the ballots and verify with the Treasurer and announce the results at the next meeting in which he has the results completed.

Article VII. Vacancies and Impeachment

In the event of the vacancy of the office of President, the Vice-President shall become President. The office of Vice-President shall be offered to the Tournament Director and then Secretary and/or Treasurer if the Vice president is vacant as well. If neither officer wishes to fill the Presidency then election for the position shall be held. If an existing officer does accept the Presidency, an election shall be held for the vacant position.
In the event of the vacancy of any other offices, the President shall appoint a temporary officer or assume their role and an election shall be held within the next three weeks as per the provision of Article VI.
Any officer is subject to impeachment and /or recall and removal from the office for failing to fulfill his/her constitutional responsibilities.
An impeachment request must be given at least a week in advance of the actual impeachment voting. Both the request and the voting must take place during regular meetings.
Upon conclusion of the discussion and arguments for and against impeaching the officer, a vote shall be taken. No officer shall be impeached except by a ⅔ vote majority of all club members. Voting shall be by secret ballot.
An officer who is impeached shall immediately relinquish their office but shall be allowed to maintain active membership in the organization unless their actions have brought discredit to the organization.
If an officer is impeached, the organization shall fill the position following the procedures outlined in Article VII. Section 1.
Article VIII. Amendments
Any proposed amendment to this constitution must be handed to the Secretary who shall in consultation with the committee. If the committee approves the amendment then they shall forward copies of the proposed amendment(s) to all members of the committee and if ⅔ vote for the amendment it shall be voted upon at the next meeting by a raise of hand vote, if a ⅔ majority and approval of monitor, the amendment shall be enacted.
Article IX. Dissolution
Should it become necessary to dissolve the club, the committee or a group of remaining members shall call a meeting which shall be chaired by the President, or failing him any committee member present or someone appointed from those present.
Those present shall decide how to dispose of the club’s assets. Any monies arising out of such disposal shall be distributed equally between the remaining bona-fide members of the club or however they decide. Thereafter the club shall cease to exist.