A Mission Statement for the Summer
Despite our temptations to make it otherwise, our mission statement for the summer has nothing to do with the beach (sad for Ethan), baseball games (sad for me), or this (sad for everyone - j/k j/k lol).
No, Our Education's goal this summer is something much, much more unique. In fact, to my knowledge, it's yet another thing that's never been done before. And whether or not we succed will depend on YOU.
So what is the goal for the summer? To meet, recruit, and prepare a leadership circle of no fewer than two hundred high school and college aged youth who will lead "Our Education Petition Drives" when school starts back up in the fall. Many of these leaders will run their petition drives through existing school clubs & groups (like NHS, student government, key club, etc.) and some will even start up their own "Our Education Clubs" to spread the word and learn more about key education issues and youth involvement. When the dust settles after these leaders get the word out in their schools, we'll work together to get the word out in their counties and states and beyond. And after that, once hundreds of thousands -- even millions -- of students are standing up to demand an American right to high quality education... this leadership circle will work to define what high quality education ought to mean, and lead the charge in pushing our elected officials to act and make education at long last a national priority.
So how do YOU fit in? In short, we're asking you to join our leadership circle of students who will be building, shaping, and then taking the lead in strategizing and executing this emerging youth movement. Already, we've had conversations with more than twenty student leaders about what they can do to get the ball rolling this fall. So, Tanya, Sasha, Tony, Jarvis, Drew, Paul, Jon, Shay, DeMarcus, Lishaun, Alicia, Robin, Nicole, Lynn, Justan, Ebony, Simone, Robert, Spencer, Mary, Seung-Yen, and Justin ... you are not alone. By the end of August, you will be joined by a number of students just like you who believe that all American children ought to have the right to high quality public education - and who believe that students themselves must play a leading role in the fight to bring this day about.
Are you interested in joining our mission for the summer? Do you want to play a leading role in shaping the future of our education system? We'd be thrilled to fight together alongside you. Email us at aaron@oured.org or ethan@oured.org, or IM us at SN: OurEducation2006 (me) or OurEducation2007 (ethan) for more info!