Paving the way to a better Southeast
Platform
I want to start with a big THANK YOU, to all our current Southeast Cabinet members: especially our Governor, LTG, and then all of you members! Here's two questions that each of you should think about before reading: What can you do to improve yourself; and what can you do to improve others? I’m sure you may relate this to the prominent President Kennedy Quote
“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
These two questions are the core principles of my campaign. Improving yourself, and service to others. I feel as though true success comes from your passion of service to others, and as you encourage achievement around you, your own aspirations rise and grow to new heights. Without the people, our state, our JSA, and our country would cease to exist; therefore, the people shall be put on the forefront of thoughts and compassion. All of my campaign actions will be modeled around the improvement of the individual, and consequently, shall improve the condition of our state. I want these words to stick with you: our, we, and us. These words are quite ironic. Their size no more than 3 letters in length, but the principles they represent, and the values they encourage: diversity, unity, and coalition; these words represent practices that we could not live without.
Platform
There will be 3 main components of my Campaign. The 3 E’s of Southeast Success. These principles shall set forth a system of success that will only be reused in future years to come.
Expansion-
Foreword:
The priority of a state is to expand, but not only in membership: ideas, thoughts, compassion, action, respect; these are all things that the Southeast will expand upon. My favorite principle of expansion is that the word implies a strong foundation. It is not creating new values or principles, but rather growing among the ideals and systems already in place. Expansion will focus around 3 key areas: State Expansion, Chapter Expansion, and Self Expansion.State Expansion:
The primary aspect of State Expansion is membership. The Southeast is the smallest JSA state in the Nation, and one of our goals for 2017-2018, is to change that. Working as Director of Expansion, I have seen first hand the Failure and Success of Expansion efforts, and within those efforts there is one thing that comes forth: unity. Working together is the only way that the Southeast will grow in size, not only in Florida, but to our other Southeastern States: Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi.Implementation: Expansion efforts can be a difficult obstacle to overcome. My proposition is to have a cabinet coalition in the Expansion Department which would include: increased number of Expansion Agents, Monthly progress reports from the Expansion Director (information would include: Number of contacts received and followed through with, how many schools are showing interest, and one problem/solution to solve in the next month), Cabinet Coalition from other departments (Publicity and Chapter Affairs), and a monthly or bi-monthly call between the Expansion Department and the Executive Cabinet Positions (Chief of Staff, LTG, Gov, and Program Director). Something that can be done that will work in conjunction between the Expansion and Fundraising Departments would be radio interviews, or talk show interviews with the Governor and Expansion Director (or another Cabinet position depending on the purpose of the interview)
Chapter Expansion:
While out of state growth is something to strive for, it is much easier and more feasible to build upon the foundation of the intra-state chapter. With the growth of each chapter, the state will expand as a whole. As i mentioned earlier, the Southeast is the smallest JSA state, and a push for membership growth will be one way to fix that. The largest part of growing a chapter may not be instantaneous, but rather, setting the foundation to build upon for years to come. That is why Underclassmen expansion and recruitment will be vital. Going along with growing membership, especially in the underclassmen and 8th grade (recruitment for high school) areas, we should have more opportunities for the chapters to coalesce; therefore, a push for more chapter conventions shall be afoot (ideally one chapter convention before each state convention)Implementation: I want to encourage a policy of “Sister Schools.” This would be where a school with an already established JSA chapter would take an intra-country school “under their wing,’’ so to speak, and help kindle JSA efforts in that school. One reason that I am a firm believer in this idea, is due to the Naples and Barron Collier Relationship. 2 years ago Barron Collier traveled to every convention among the 100 Naples High members, and because of their involvement and encouragement to our JSA, Barron Collier now has over 70 paying members. Along with the Sister School Program, multiple underclassmen agents shall be assigned on State Cabinet. How the agents shall correspond with students will be decided in the future but possible ideas include: underclassmen agents grouped by schools alphabetically or by area. Directly affiliated in the Underclassmen efforts, shall be efforts to recruit 8th grade students for JSA in high school. The closer chapter presidents and members are with their state cabinet and governor, the better; I believe that hosting more webinar workshops, discussing important problems to be solved within a chapter: how to expand membership size, how to keep your club active and vibrant, and how to get new members active in the club; are all webinars and workshops the state needs more of. I know that JSA already does those webinars, but having an increased number would be very successful.
Self Expansion:
This concept may sound cheesy or may raise some eyebrows; however, I feel as everyone can improve: on public speaking skills, formulating arguments, or becoming more involved in JSA. The expansion and growth of one's self, should be a priority of the Southeast State. Without our members, we couldn't perform anything at all, and therefore, our priority should be the encouragement and success of each JSA member.Implementation: Long story short, the main “procedure” or legislation we can draft would be a good spirit. We need to build off of the Fight Apathy campaign: every voice is equally important, and every member is important just the same. I want to bring a more interconnected and personal spirit to the Southeast, and i know it may seem an impossible feat, but again the encouragement of a well spirited attitudes can carry for miles. As for actual legislation or procedure, I propose that we try to have the fight apathy campaign statewide in the closest proximity possible. Along with an even stronger push behind fight apathy, an increased activity in social media and networking shall do nothing but improve intrapersonal connections.
Expansion Summary:
*More involved Expansion Department
-5 Expansion Agents
-Monthly or Bi-monthly Expansion Report from Expansion Director
-5 Underclassmen Agents: Contact chapter presidents and discuss debate involvement and overall problem/solutions with underclassmen involvement.
-Agents shall be divided by region in the Southeast (Exp: 1 Agent for Miami/Ft.Lauderdale Region, etc…)
*Cabinet Coalition
-Publicity, Fundraising, Chapter Affairs, and Expansion shall push to work together in more ways, along with other Cabinet Departments and positions.
-Overall more connectivity between departments.
*Sister School Policy
-Have each JSA Chapter take students from another school in their county to a JSA and work with Expansion Department to help build that school into a vibrant JSA chapter.
*Webinar and Workshop Increase
-To promote member involvement, provide webinars and workshops on a variety of different topics to help chapters keep an involved and interested member base.
*Higher Publicity of Fight Apathy
-In the Fight Apathy campaign, the social media outlets should not be silent.
-Heavily publicize the Fight Apathy campaign on all social media platforms.
To branch off of that, an overall increase to social media involvement from Southeast Leaders.
- Foreword: Much of this section will be reiteration of previously stated procedures along with a more thorough explanation of the policies that should be put into place. This section of my platform is, of course, centered around efficiency; moreover, you will see a variety of different problems and solutions that are present in the Southeast.
- Communication: One of the issues in our current state, really isn’t a present issue that we are dealing with, but rather it can be an issue that would be easily manifested, and that is a lack of communication. As we all know, communication is vital to a vibrant and growing state, and therefore must be kept in the highest standards. I would like to applaud the current Southeast Cabinet for providing a great network of communication this year, and I only hope to grow upon that. One factor I have noticed, is that some members that aren’t on cabinet or aren’t a chapter president might face the issue of not knowing upcoming, and vital, information: regarding anything from events to debate sign ups. My proposition is that we use the JSApp to spread information directly to the students, and with the JSApp, have a way for students to stay in frequent communication.
- Implementation: Use the JSApp to publish important upcoming information about club involvements and anything else that JSA wants to get out directly to the students. Working along with the JSApp, have a moderated chat where people of the southeast can share their ideas and thoughts together. Also promote more conversation between members.
- Fundraising: The cost of anything will always have the last laugh, with an increased efficiency within the fundraising department, we intend to reduce that laugh down to a chuckle. I’m sure you are wondering how to raise more money for the Southeast State will benefit any of the members, so to share, here is some of the many things an increased state budget will do for JSA: increased scholarship fund (more members at more conventions equals a better time), more JSA bling to show off to your friends, higher quality venues and more provided services at conventions (free coffee and/or breakfasts are a goal for next year), overall with better funding comes better quality.
- Implementation: The fundraising department has arguably one of the largest tasks in the state, and because of that, they need all the help we can give. We need to have more cabinet positions dedicated to fundraising. Along with the Director of Fundraising, there should be fundraising agents that reach out to businesses and organizations for donations, and the Director of Fundraising should be in constant communication with the Program Director to ensure proper reliability in business transactions. Merchandise is something that every member wants; however, there is unfortunately more complexities to the merchandise process than anticipated. I propose a system to efficiently provide more merchandise for the Southeast State. This idea will be explained thoroughly in the activism section :) Along with merchandise, each convention should have a fundraising booth with multiple opportunities for said fundraising: raffles for different prizes would be the most effective item at a booth. Overall, we need more cabinet members working in the fundraising department, and a presence of fundraising at each convention.
- Activism: Activism and publicity are like the Clownfish and Anemone, they cannot work without one another. In my mind, Activism is more than just standing behind what you believe in; and publicity is more than just spreading your information to the masses. Remember how I said that I’d be reiterating a lot, here’s one of those times. Once increasing communication, your activism and publicity potential will increase as well. My goal is to increase the Social Media presence of the Southeast, and get everyone more involved with our state activities. After conventions, we need to keep the hype for the upcoming events. A ChapterCON in between Fall State, Winter Congress, and Spring State will allow members to stay involved in debate whilst also being able to get their JSA merchandise for the next big convention. Merchandise is the high risk, high reward area of fundraising, and with a little help from publicity, we can change that. I propose that instead of selling merchandise at the conventions, we advertise possible T-shirt designs pre-convention, so that the members can pick it up there. This way will reduce on over-expenditure and allow for a much more effective and efficient process of selling merchandise.
- Implementation: We have to be on top of our social media games next year, by having more impact from an online standpoint, we can work to truly connect the Southeast. The Publicity and Activism departments must work closely with the Governor and LTG to provide the best Social Media experience that JSA can offer. This will include pictures, surveys, advertisements, member sharing, and overall a more connectedness among the Southeast.
- Efficiency Summary-
- Full utilization of the JSApp.
- Informing members of current and upcoming paramount information, allowing the members to stay in connection with each other even after conventions, and it will provide multiple tools for the members to have access to throughout the whole year.
- Expand the Fundraising Department
- Set goals at the start of the year for overall expenditure. Financial report monthly or bi-monthly to check progress upon that goal.
- Create a budget. This will allow the state to track its expenditures and help provide the next year with vital information on how to be fiscally responsible.
- Fundraising Agents. 2-4 additional agents to help expedite the Directors jobs and will help to split work amongst more people, this will allow more donation requests to be sent out and more people to be lobbying for JSA fundraising.
- Fundraising Booth’s at each convention. This will allow the fundraising department to have a more spearheaded push into State fundraising, especially being in the presence of so many members.
- A portion of all funds raised at each convention, will be rewarded to a charity of choice.
- ChapterCON increase
- The convention coordinator will work with 3 schools per year to organize chapter conventions in between our normal state conventions: one before Fall State, one before Winter Congress, and one before Spring State.
- Host schools shall be selected at the start of each year.
- Low risk merchandise
- Southeast JSA merchandise will be marketed by design online, and at the Chapter Conventions before State Assemblies. Utilization of social media and polling will allow members to pick the most favorable design that will be sold.
- Once final designs are voted on (2 per State Assembly) members will have the option of placing their order online, or at the Chapter Convention. All merchandise will be distributed to those that ordered at the State Conventions.
- This way of ordering rather than mass selling will cut down immensely on overspending and wasted money.
- Social Media Rise
- In order for members to stay connected, Southeast social media pages will be active and vibrant throughout the year.
- Each Chapter president shall encourage members to follow the Social Media pages.
Empowerment-
- Young Leaders Conference: I was honored to be 1 of 40 people invited to the Montezuma Leadership Summit this past summer; and while I underwent a weekend of amazing leadership training and gained vital experience, I couldn't help but think, this needs to happen in the Southeast. One of the great products from Montezuma was the connections with JSA members across the country, and from that continued contact, I recently came across the Young Leaders Convention that the Northern California State was holding. I am inspired, and believe this is something every state should be doing. I want to congratulate the Northern California State for empowering the youth of JSA and I want to inform them, and all of you, that the Southeast is going to be the most influential leaders for our underclassmen.
- The Conference: The actual events and activities of this conference will be decided in full detail once collaboration with the Program Director and cabinet undergo. As for a rough outline: cabinet leaders will head workshops teaching underclassmen important information on Public Speaking, JSA Activism, Leadership roles in cabinet and in the Chapter, and many other things. Each Southeast Chapter would select 5 underclassmen that are showing great leadership potential, and during the Young Leaders Conference, their leadership abilities, talents, and public speaking will be exponentially increased.
- Southeast Recruitment Video: Be the people, that is the JSA motto, and to properly be the people, you must inform them. Earlier in the year I posed the idea of making a state video that showcases the debating, fun, and connections that JSA makes within the students. Unfortunately that fell through, but next year will be different. Next year we will be able to show the entire high school population from the mountains of South Carolina all the way down to the Beaches on South Florida what JSA is truly about.
- Spirit- JSA is centered around Youth Civic Engagement and political debate, and while JSA members are the most mature and responsible teens there are, we still have to have some fun. Everyone looks forward to the State Conventions: hours of debate and also meeting new people. The beauty of JSA is that it mixes debate and social skills into one long weekend of unforgettable nights and connections that last a lifetime. As a way of promoting Southeast Spirit and great nights, members shall be encouraged to meet new people from around the state and to engage in a night of lit activities.
- Implementation: Along with the Director of Night Activities, we should have an unofficial position as JSA Hype-man (or woman). They would announce the Night Activities planned and encourage all fellow JSA members to attend. Along with the night activities, we should have a “Expand your horizon” initiative, in which a # will be made for people to share photos from the convention of someone new they met or wasn’t close with before.
- Empowerment Summary:
- Young Leaders Conference
- Exact details will be made for next year after meeting with necessary officials.
- Leadership Conference for underclassmen. 5 underclassmen members from each chapter.
- Cabinet leads workshops and entire convention. Juniors and seniors run the workshops, and teach the Underclassmen necessary tools to succeed.
- Southeast JSA Video
- This video will include a showcasing of all the JSA activities: debates, night activities, speeches, keynote speakers, and of course the chapter caucuses.
- The reason behind the video is that it will be an excellent resource to show at your first club meeting or to send to new and upcoming JSA Chapters.
- The New Faces Initiative
- After each convention a # will be shared that JSA members will post pictures of a new friend they met at the convention with themselves.
I do not have the words to describe how excited I am to be working with you all if I am elected next year. My promise to you is that I will give 150% of my effort, all the time, to all of you. You are what makes this program happen, and for that I am forever grateful. I can only hope to bring to the table policies and ideas that will improve our JSA state, and help to make each and every one of your lives just a little bit more interesting. I will leave you with one thing. Teenagers are a fraction of the population, y’all are only a fraction of what our entire country is, but you are the whole future. Thanks again, have a great night and stay tuned.