Parental Rights Information

Be a Teen Ambassador!

Are you a teen between the ages of 13-18 who would like to make a difference dealing with real-life issues? If your family is a member of SCHEA, we invite you to apply to become a Teen Ambassador for the school year 2009-2010. We anticipate your involvement will include helping with the parental rights issue, helping collate packets for state leaders, manning tables at events, and giving talks to local groups (only if you enjoy public speaking!). You also will have the opportunity to help the SCHEA Board deliver legislative packets to legislators (in Columbia in January) and behind the scenes at Home School Day at the Capitol (in Columbia in April) and at the state convention (in Sumter in June). Teen Ambassadors do not have to do all of these activities but are expected to participate in most of them. There are no monthly meetings. Communication will be primarily via email.

Some of you already are teen ambassadors but don’t know it. If you have helped the SCHEA Board set up for the state convention and run some of the events behind the scenes ... If you helped with Home School Day at the Capitol during the Legislators’ Breakfast Tea or helped direct attendees and answer questions at that event ... If you met with other young people and parents in January to help hand out legislative packets to our legislators ... Then you already have been serving as a Teen Ambassador but didn’t know it!

Now is your time to get a title for what you’ve already been doing, and to get the recognition you deserve. We are expanding the role a little to include some much-needed work we need done for the Parental Rights amendment. In the past, it has been whoever has volunteered, and we have appreciated our volunteers! Now, we would like to specifically choose those who are committed to helping us with the events mentioned above and also with the parental rights issue. Some of this work can even be done by email from your home! We know you’re busy, so there is not a lot of work involved with this during the year, and most of it can be done on the few days mentioned above.

We will not have monthly meetings. However, when you already are on-site helping with Home School Day at the Capitol or handing out packets to legislators in January, we will offer special workshops especially for you there! These include topics such as Manners that Matter: How to Positively Influence those Around You, Winsome Words: Soundbites to Make an Impact, and Teens on Technology: How to Use Technology to Promote Current Legislative Issues. These workshops are designed to be fun, motivational workshops to broaden your experience dealing with legislators and increase your self-confidence when speaking to others about important issues (whether you are speaking to a friend through text-messaging or speaking to a group in public). You don’t have to do any public speaking if you don’t want to, but we’ll give you some pointers on this in case you have the opportunity and want to take it! We’ll cover items such as “business dress” that is expected in government circles, how to write news releases and letters to the editor, and how to use your current blogs, Facebook, and MySpace accounts to further the parental rights issue among your peers.

The program is free, but we are asking for a one-year commitment, since we are investing time in you to help develop you as a leader. Participants will receive a certificate from SCHEA and can count the hours spent on these projects toward community service credit.

Moreover, it is our hope that each student who participates in this program will grow in vision as a leader, increase in knowledge about current issues, and develop God-given gifts through using them in real-life ways during the course of this program. We need your help and hope that many of you apply today. Those teens accepted will be notified by email by December 8th.

Questions? Contact us.

For an application to be a Teen Ambassador, click here. (.pdf 45K)