How do you check students in? Do you have a process? How do you track them?
For my youth ministry we track students two different ways. For our Sr.Youth (grades 8-12) we track in small groups with the Lead Small app, and for my Jr.Youth (grades 5-7) we use youth ministry tracker. In the next year we will completely switch both ministries over to youth ministry tracker. It’s a great youth ministry specific app. There are just a few glitches that need to be worked out with the syncing, but other than that it’s a great program for youth pastors.
Here is how simply built a sign-in kiosk for our Jr.Youth.
1. Get an iPad (Apple iPad 2 will work just fine, and it won’t break the bank). You don’t need the newest one. If you already have one of your own, I would recommend getting a second. I want at least two sign in kiosk’s in order to sign students in faster.
2. Download the youth ministry tracker app. This app is awesome. We have used the lead small app in the Jr.Youth group, but it is hard to keep it up to date. I pulled this app out a few weeks ago and our leaders and students loved it. The best part is three weeks later, they are still loving how easy it is to sign in.
Note: First time we were only able to sign in 30 people because it took so long to sign up each student. We now have almost everyone signed in 3 weeks later. One tip would be to load youth ministry tracker on to multiple devices under one cloud account. This way students can use the iPad to register, and they can easily sign in on your iPhone or iPod touch.
3. Get a legit stand. We used a Pwr+® Silver Metal Pivoting Flex Ipad Stand Holder Stand for Apple Ipad 2 3 4
I use this stand on my desk when it isn’t being used for a sign in kiosk. I love having my iPad on my desk for reading, and studying. Worthing having a nice stand for your sign-in kiosk. This is worth every penny.
Those are three simple steps in order to build a custom sign-in kiosk. You could also build a stand for it out of pallet wood, but I just put my iPad and stand on our welcome area/ kids ministry sign-in because we share the space with the church. Our group is too big to have our own dedicated room, and it’s perfect to have the stage, light, and equipment of the Sunday morning church.
How do you keep track of students? Is there a process? What program do you use? Is it easy to use?
