Hi! My name is Lauren T., and I’m a Junior at Arrowhead Park Early College High School. This will be my 3rd year in Evolvement and my 2nd on the Leadership Team. Just as the title suggests, discreetly of course, I’m going to share about my experiences with school board meetings for 24/7.
During my time with Evolvement and 24/7, I’ve had the opportunity to work with other Evolvers to present at two school board meetings. One in my own school district, Las Cruces, and the other in Aztec. Both were online. When I was getting ready to present at my first school board meeting there was one thought running through my mind: “I’m going to mess up and embarrass everyone.” Spoiler alert, I didn’t. While at first the board meetings seemed terrifying, with the amazing amount of support that I received from the 24/7 campaign manager and other Evolvers, I was completely able to overlook the superficial fear I had. Before the board meeting, the campaign manager made sure to run through the presentation with me and the other Evolvers multiple times, and she would continuously be a helping hand throughout the entire process. Not only that but knowing that what I was doing would be helpful to my community only made everything seem easier.
The school board meetings that 24/7 does helps to keep schools tobacco-free 24 hours a day,7 days a week by reaching out to people who can do so much more than I can as just one student. The school board meetings also aren’t just a time for you to advocate for your community, but also for yourself. Because when you present, you feel this sort of empowerment which just pushes you to be more confident and to speak out for your needs.
Presenting at those school board meetings for 24/7 not only let me speak for what I want, tobacco-free schools, but also let me develop myself in a way that made me more confident. Every meeting that I have participated in has not failed to remind me that Evolvement is a constant stream of support, and really, everyone needs that at some point. I only hope that I was able to convince you that school board meetings are not as scary as they seem and that they come with a lot of benefits. If you still don’t believe me, then I urge you to participate in one and prove me wrong.
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