Zero Reasons Why ICT Advisory Board Meeting Notes
September 11, 2023, 4:30-6:00, Rhatigan Student Center
For our second board meeting of the year, we reviewed progress that had been made toward scheduling in school events, discussed day-to-day in-school promotion of the campaign, began planning for “yellowout” including discussing fundraising.
Discussion
In School Engagement
The majority of our time was spent talking about the various challenges the campaign faces when it comes to successful promotion and recruitment within schools. There was consensus that in order to successfully reach peers, we must cater to them, reaching them in fresh and engaging ways and not simply follow the typical in-school ways of promotion and engagement. There was also agreement that many teens don’t take mental health and suicide seriously because they simply do not realize how serious it is. Because of this, these topics are often brushed aside, spoken about in unhelpful ways, and generally ignored. A major goal of the campaign, then, will be to find consistently engaging ways to promote our 3 campaign pillars within schools: remove stigma, build community support, and commit to education. All of our in-school and community efforts should be done with these three pillars in mind.
One basic plan for in-school promotion is to hang up flyers with QR codes in strategic places around school, including in bathroom stalls and at lunch and library tables. QR codes will include links to share your story, sign up for the campaign and our Instagram page. Another idea is to use the schools channels of communication – in particular, newspapers and announcements – to share about the campaign.
We also noted that the best way to engage peers with the message of ZRW is through peer-to-peer/one-on-one/small group engagement. Most teens are used to being engaged in large, assembly-like settings where it is easy to ignore the content being shared. We want to avoid the pitfalls of those kind of events and by making personal connections. Beyond each board member personally reaching out to individuals, we discussed the possibility of hosting small group meetings where time is set aside during the week for a small group of teens to talk to one another about mental health in a safe and inviting context, perhaps calling it an “advocacy hour.” We will want to talk to school officials about the possibility of having these kinds of events.
Community Engagement
A majority of our time spent discussing community engagement revolved around getting local business assist us with fundraising for yellowout game shirts and donating things like cookies or ice cream to events. Board members were encouraged to reach out to their places of work about possible fundraising, sponsorship, or donation efforts if applicable.
A community engagement item that we did not get to was our October 25th community event. Detaisl are being finalized for when/where this meeting will take place, as well as the content of the meeting. Once those details are finalized, we will develop promotional plans that each board member can use to get the word out.
ACTION ITEMS BEFORE NEXT MEETING
- If your school has not scheduled an in-school event yet, reach out to an adult within your school asking them about hosting it. Tell Amy and Davis who you reached out to so they can make contact with them as well
- Identify who is in charge of planning spirit day/game themes and talk to them about having a “mental health” themed basketball game in the winter. Progress on this should be made on this in the next few weeks so that we have adequate time to plan/fundraise, etc.
- Amy/Davis will look into flyers with QR codes and will distribute them to schools when possible
- Board members who work at businesses that could make good community partners will reach out to them about potentially sponsoring an event, hosting a fundraiser, or donating goods to events
- Board members: identify allies within your school who would support your efforts on ZRW. Discuss with them ways you call can reach your peers in such a way that mental health and suicide are taken more seriously
NEXT BOARD MEETING: Monday, October 16, 4:30-6p, Rhatigan Student Center