We all get engaged and excited when we can work on a passion project.
What topic are your students talking about today?
Invite them to build an advocacy project around that issue! Will they advocate to their local, state or federal officials? Or perhaps they will advocate among their peers to bring attention to an issue?
Will they advocate for change, or advocate on behalf of a group or an issue in need of change? We have seen powerful change when students use the Lead4Change lessons to become effective advocates.
Here are just a few examples.
At Mercy Academy in Louisville, KY, the senior project requires that students focus on a cause for which they must build and implement an advocacy campaign. One team divided students into 5 committees: Direct Action, Indirect Action, Advocacy, Community Education and Finance. Together they campaigned to their lawmakers to enact change in their community.
Throughout the senior class, project topics included:
> Making Quality Education available to all;
> Substance abuse resources and support;
> Educating women to break the cycle of oppression and violence;
> Long-term solutions for hunger in their community
> Creating a sense of belonging for immigrants new to the area
Each team used the 5 committees to bring attention and solutions to their issue. These seniors graduated as fully equipped leaders with a heart for service!
In New York City, students in an aftercare program developed an awareness campaign around bullying. They developed signage and pamphlets that shared the signs of bullying, how to personally respond, and how to bring a problem to someone’s attention and get help.
Students worked with the LGBT Community Center to gain expert advice and new insight into the issue and ways to improve safety and acceptance among their peers. Solutions are far more powerful when they come from peers instead of top-down! Giving these students a voice made the changes more effective.
Other projects, too many to list, have included providing mental health hotline information via bathroom stall signs, on cell phone credit card holders, and on the back of student ID badges. Students have also advocated for change in school culture, changes in school managed food programs and more.
When your students discover their passion, uncover the facts and design real change – they become the face of their generation as leaders for a better world! We can’t wait to see what your students will do when they are empowered with Voice and Choice about their project’s focus.
Register now to participate, or log in to your member dashboard and get started.