Profile of a Volunteer

The first volunteer I met was my mother.  Being a volunteer mom is not the easiest role as a parent.  Being a Girl Scout leader was a role that my mother took with ease and never at any moment appeared to be frustrated or lack of interest.  My mom was always the leader that made each girls experience fun and a learning experience.  With the limited funding available she would dip into her own pocket without even thinking twice about it.  The love and attention she gave to each girl involved in this wonderful program for children is indescribable.   I really do not even think my mom even witnessed the confidence she gave each girl in our Girl Scout troop.  With the Girl Scouts in hand my mother assisted with the beginnings of friendships among girls that included lessons in life that will stay with all of us throughout our adolescents.  My take-away from my mom’s position was to always be kind and care for others.   

 

 

 

To elaborate what Girl Scouts take part in with advocacy, I have included an example of how important this organization is to girls and their families around the country.   Girl Scouts of the USA's Public Policy and Advocacy Office has worked across party lines with Congress and the Executive Branch to educate and raise awareness of the issues important to girls and young women. Through their advocacy efforts, they inform and educate key representatives of the government's legislative and executive branches about issues important to girls and Girl Scouting and help demonstrate to policymakers that Girl Scouts is a resource and an authority on issues affecting girls (Girl Scouts, 2014)

Girl Scouts. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/advocacy/

Using Social Media to Get Connected

I began my “social media” life some years ago with Facebook.  At first I began it to share family photos and to keep in touch with my family members that live away.  But now I use it to find contacts, investigate, and to use as a way to communicate with organizations and others.  YouTube is another social media that I use daily with my children and with my program.   I am addicted to finding motivational videos for EC professionals.  One specific I love is the Soul Pancake series.  The video above is a perfect example of St. Jude's hospital advocating for their program.

I believe that Facebook and YouTube are both great tools that assist with effective advocacy.  They are both free advertisement and are both popular sites that most people in society use daily.

 

My question to my colleagues is what types of social media would you use to promote their advocacy subject?  When speaking to my husband that is the administrator for a military teen program stated that the teens are more into using Instagram.  Is that one that you all would use?

Advocacy Messages

 

 

I love this quote!  It speaks for any educator that have dedicated their lives to educating children, making a difference.  As an educator I think that we at times forget that we are worth so much more than we see ourselves as.  I believe the message alone is effective because of the audience it is directed to; educators.

 

 

This caught my eye simply because as a society generated by men we forget that they want to have fun and enjoy their families at home.  I think of my husband with my children and how much they love him.  They look forward to him coming home each evening just to do those afternoon basketball games or my daughter sitting with her clarinet and my husband listening to her as if she is in Carnegie Hall.  We have to advocate for those fathers that DO want to be involved in their child's lives.

 

Educators are trained to recognize the signs of any type of developmental delays, mental instability, or abuse.  As parents we typically ignore signs of any type of delays, we simply believe our babies are simply babies.  As we advertise these types of ad's the messages can get out and families start to realize that maybe, just maybe their child is displaying some signs of autism.  As a sibling of an autistic brother, it was hard to accept the diagnosis but without his Head Start teacher, his diagnosis possibly could have went years without a diagnosis.