Jump-Start Your Student Advocacy Program

Some things to think about over the summer as we plan for the coming school year -
http://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/AdvisoryAdvocacy/AdvDet/TabId/179/ArtMID/694/ArticleID/281/Jump-Start-Your-Student-Advocacy-Program.aspx

Implementation Tips

If your school wants to implement a student advocacy program, we encourage you to start slowly and be patient. Change takes time; we began our work a full year before implementing our program. In addition,

• Review what you already have in place and begin building your program upon that foundation.
• Seek out your "champions"—people in your building who will be open to and excited about this initiative. Use these people to develop a strong leadership team.
• Make principals and guidance counselors an integral part of this team. Not only do they bring a different skill set, they know community members and parent who will be willing to dedicate resources.
• After the first year, seek out and support student leaders, as they are the ultimate champions of any student advocacy program