Being an Advocate for your Students Professional Development January 7, 2014

An advocate aims to empower a young person. They offer a one-to-one support. They may give advice, encourage the child, or simply provide a listening ear. Youth mentors help children set goals, solve problems, and make good choices. An advocate/mentor never takes the place of a parent — they simply provide a positive role model for the at-risk child.

Advocacy is about empowerment. An Advocate lets a student know that they have someone that believes in them. Advocates coach and encourage and give their honest opinion. Who is that one person that you think about when you think of an advocate for yourself?

Advocacy can be more appropriately viewed as assisting children and youth in finding their own power from within and teaching them to use it effectively. "Advocacy is the catalyst for change, not the change agent"

Do our students need advocates? If so, which students? How could an advocate benefit our students? “Advocacy is the catalyst for change….” What does this mean? What change is needed for /with/by our students?

An advocate program targets, provokes, and influences change. Youth need to know that adults in our school and community believe in them. Youth need encouragement Youth want their opinions/needs/likes/dislikes to be validated

Advocate you say? Why would I WANT to add one more thing to my day??????

1.You could change a kid’s life! 2. The greatest joy is giving and receiving hope. 3. You could help a student reach graduation. 4. You might be the first person to ever truly listen to that child. 5. You could teach a student to be an advocate for himself and maybe someday others.

An advocate/mentor makes a big difference: When kids enjoy a regular, positive activity with an adult over the course of a year, those kids are more likely to enroll in and graduate from college, more likely to participate in sports, and more likely to volunteer in the community. They are also 52 percent less likely than their peers to skip school, 46 percent less likely to start using drugs, and 27 percent less likely to begin drinking alcohol. All this results in less drug-related suspensions, drug-related crime, and the number of babies born who are drug-affected.

Advocacy Skills Checklist

A good Advocate has a willingness to share knowledge, and expertise A good Advocate demonstrates a positive attitude and acts as a positive role model. A good Advocate takes a personal interest in the mentoring relationship A good Advocate motivates others to want to advocate by setting a good example

Think of a few students that you could see yourself partnered with as an Advocate What does this look like? When do you see the student? How often would you talk to them? What will you say to them? How will they respond? Develop a brief plan for one student: Who, what, when, where, how?

Advocacy does not have to take a lot of time. “Hey, how are your classes going this week?” “Do you have any tests coming up?” “How did you do on that English test your were preparing for last week?” This goes a long way with students when these short conversations are regular occurrences. Other ways to advocate include:

Listen Give the youth the opportunity to make their own case; self- advocate Bring reality to situations Persist with the youth in a consistent manner until meaningful resolution is gained Teach youth skillful ways to disagree with people; role model appropriate dispute resolution Create safety, put in place safeguards Follow up with youth and staff

Advocates educate themselves about their local school district. They know how decisions are made and by whom. They help their students to learn the appropriate ways to make requests, complaints, get academic help, etc.

The school has a formal structure whereby each student is well known by at least one adult advocate in the school who supports that student’s educational experience. ???????????????????

4School personnel participate in a structure that gives them long-term interaction with individual students, allowing them to build strong relationships over time with the student and related adults. 3School personnel participate in a structure that gives them long-term interaction with individual students, allowing them to build strong relationships over time with the student. 2School personnel participate in a structure that gives them interaction with individual students, allowing them to build relationships over time with the student. 1Few or no opportunities exist for school personnel to build long-term interaction with individual students.

4All students participate in the structure. 3 All students may participate in the structure. 2 Most students participate in the structure. 1No students participate in the structure.

4The structure allows the school employee to gain significant insight into and serve as an advocate for the student’s needs regarding learning skills, thinking skills and life skills. 3 The structure allows the school employee to gain insight into and serve as an advocate for the student’s needs regarding learning skills, thinking skills and life skills. 2 The structure allows the school employee to gain insight into the student’s needs regarding learning skills, thinking skills and life skills. 1 Few or no students have a school employee who advocates for their needs regarding learning skills, thinking skills and life skills.

me your answers to the following items: 1.The most significant thing I learned in today’s Advocacy PD was… 2.I will apply this PD to my work by…. 3.I know of a student (one, two, three?) that I think I would make a good advocate for. I think I would be a good match with them because… 4.The way that I would advocate for this (these) students is…. 5.My next step is to… 6.I will Mrs. Miller with the name of one of my students that I Advocate for so that she can photograph us for the website. (Indicate yes or no)