Local Advocacy Project

In this section you will find information on the ‘Local Advocacy Project’, Public Speaking Contest, Washington DC Experience, and the Grassroots Activism Scholarship by Potomac Grange #1

LOCAL ADVOCACY PROJECT:

Do you have an issue that affects your community? What is it? How can you make a difference and create change within your community? With this project we are encouraging Junior Grangers to identify issues within their community and research the issue and be an advocate for change. Within this process the Junior Granger should learn the legislative process of the Grange and the community in which they are working with for a change. (i.e., local government, school board, HOA, etc.)

Junior Leaders are to help the Junior Granger Identify the following:

• Community
  o Identify what community type you are interested in helping
  o This can be within your Grange, town, school, subdivision, etc.
• Issue
  o Identify what do you want to be advocating for?
  o Is this a Grange, school, local, state, or national issue?
• Reason
  o Once you have identified the issue determine why this issue is relevant and why you should be advocating for a change.
• Plan
  o Come up with a solution to work on solving the issue. Is that writing a resolution for your local Grange, speaking to the school board or local government officials?
• Presentation
  o Schedule a meeting with the correct officials and present your plan for change and advocate for why you think these changes are important.

EXAMPLE:

Community- School
Issue- Homework is given three nights a week and you believe it should only be given once a week and due at the end of the week.

Reason- You believe homework should only be given once a week because kids are busy in the evenings, and it would give them an entire week to work on the assignment.

Plan: You want to speak to the school board to make the entire school follow the same homework guidelines.

Presentation: You went to speak with the school board about the issues and presented your plan of action and encouraged the school board to vote for a change in the homework policy.

Junior Grange leaders are encouraged to post on social media and send their advocacy projects to the National Junior Grange Department. They are also encouraged to celebrate victories and defeats that the Juniors may have during this process. Advocating for something doesn’t always mean you will win, but it does mean that you are learning to work with others and help find a solution to a problem. We as Grangers have a long and very strong history in advocating. Training our Juniors at a young age to advocate is substantial to obstacles they will face all throughout life.