Active Schools Initiative: Advocacy Training

We had an outstanding turn-out for our first Advocacy Training last Thursday, Dec. 9th!

Highlights:

• Department of Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake kicked off the meeting talking about the importance of obesity prevention work, educational advocacy, and policy change.


• What's the difference between Educational Advocacy and Lobbying? Our trainers for the day Jill Ness, Melissa Horn and Steve Elliott laid out the rules of the road.


• Advocacy Training was a healthy training, complete with physical activity opportunity!
• Grassroots: Maintain a database of volunteers. Include name, address (so that you can determine legislative district), phone number, email, interests and special skills. Here's a sample database!
• Media Advocacy: Pitching a national story to your local media ...
  1.) Describe the issue
  2.) Take some key facts and make them your own by using local examples and making the story personal
  3.) Why is it important? Why would the listener care? How does it effect the listener or reader?
  4.) Call to action.
• Policymaker Education: Tip: When you meet with a policymaker, don’t go alone. Ensure that all attendees identify themselves as constituents/residents of the policymaker’s district and engage as many attendees as possible as speakers.