Publish your point of view and make a call for action
Submit your opinion to a major news source or record a podcast.
Resources:
- The New York Times Learning Network has daily prompts that students aged 13+ are encouraged to comment on.
- EL Education’s Coronavirus Creative Response Project
- Share your Story with Young Invincibles
Show support on social media
Hot topics have hashtags that you can share and build upon with your own photos, quotes, etc use to raise awareness in your social media.
Resources:
Create or share petitions
Suggested steps for your petition campaign:
- Pick your cause and research the issue.
- Pick your platform and format for your petition.
- Identify the source of change (Government representative? Media outlet? Company or organization leader?) who you can influence with your petition.
- Phrase what you are asking for with accuracy and clarity and get feedback from peers and a teacher.
- Share your petition online on your chosen platform.
Resources:
- Step by step directions on creating a petition, from Change.org
Write to your local representatives
Suggested steps in writing your letter:
- Research decisions currently facing either local, state, or federal representatives about spending related to the pandemic.
- Identify the relevant representatives to contact.
- Research different organizations advocating on behalf of decisions that you agree with. Read their positions and arguments, and look at models of online letters that these organizations provide.
- Write a draft and send to peers and teachers for feedback and editing suggestions.
- Send your letter and encourage others to do the same through social media or email!
Resources:
- Protect Voters’ Rights (letter to senators), from ACLU
- Letter on Phase 4 COVID-19 Stimulus Package to US House of Representatives members, from Young Invincibles
- Creative responses, from EL Education
Make window signs and other displays of support
Ideas for displays of support:
- Create posters or displays for your windows
- Make sidewalk art on your street
Resources:
- The Signs of Coronavirus, from Slate
- Paint a Kindness Rock, from Youth Service America
- Organize a teddy bear hunt, from TIME
Host a teach-in related to an existing campaign to get your peers aware and involved.
Decide what topic you want to organize around and if you will you conduct this teach-in alone or with others. Steps:
- Determine your platform. You can work with a teacher and conduct the teach-in within your crew, you can run your own live session on video, or make an instructional video and share.
- Make the teach-in simple and short, the event should not exceed an hour. Have a clear message and repeat it throughout and be sure to think about engaging the heart just as much as the brain.
- Create one powerful text to share that will change hearts and minds. The text can be a reading, quote, image, or video.
- Offer a chance to discuss and collaborate
- Determine one specific way people can get involved. If possible, give participants the chance to act during your teach-in.
Resources:
- Tips for hosting virtual events, from Hootsuite
Create a Fundraiser
Ideas for raising funds:
- Organize virtual “thons” (walk, skate, bowl, swim, bike, rock, read, dance) to raise money for a cause.
- Make cards, artwork, jewelry, or other handcrafted items to sell virtually to raise money.
Resources: