ADVOCACY PLAN
Advocacy Plan
Josue Paul
School of Education, Liberty University
ADVOCACY PLAN
Abstract
Bidwell Junior High School's situation requires advocacy to ensure community involvement,
media, and efforts to sustain established plans to overcome the schoolbased challenges
affecting students and their academic well-being. The pressing challenges are the need for
socioeconomic support programs and school-communitybased activities, which can help bring
the stakeholders together to discuss and implement proposed solutions. Several resources that
can contribute to the promotion of success include the establishment of youth programs,
emergency food services, and educational support foundations. These initiatives necessitate the
utilization of media advocacy in order to enhance their relevance and garner support.
Nevertheless, a crucial aspect of effectively reimagining the school is in establishing enduring
and forward-thinking collaborations, wherein every involved entity stands to benefit from the
school's achievements.
Keywords: School, resources, support, media
Academic institutions should empower, inform, and help school stakeholders become
aware of the school's well-being for support. The community and its resources require
collaboration to develop the community and foster students' well-being. The community is the
backbone of its stability at Bidwell Junior High School in Chico, California. Furthermore, the
population and the type of neighborhoods characterized by diversity impact most of the
school's operations. Nevertheless, educational institutions must strive for improvement in light
of certain obstacles mostly driven by disparities. Hence, within the educational institution, it is
imperative to prioritize the implementation of advocacy strategies to address the many
requirements of the school, establish effective channels of communication and dissemination of
information, and provide continuous and equitable access to resources. These measures are
essential for promoting the overall well-being of both students and the wider community.
Advocacy for Meeting School-Community Needs
The school requires socioeconomic support programs to support underprivileged
students and lessen school-based inequalities. Bidwell Junior High School has a significant
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obstacle in the form of insufficient financial resources allocated towards kids from poor
backgrounds, as well as the prevalence of bullying, which has adverse effects on the emotional
well-being of the student body. The involvement of the administration, parents, and students is
crucial in the development of socioeconomic assistance programs. The key stakeholders in
addressing disparities are students, parents, and the administration. Students provide firsthand
knowledge of the challenges contributing to inequalities, while parents offer further insights
into the fundamental causes. The administration, on the other hand, brings a professional
perspective to the task of developing a solution.
Given the constraints of limited resources in addressing the socioeconomic disparity, it is
imperative for both the administration and parents to transcend the scope of the school's
provisions and proactively consider other measures, such as seeking sponsorships for students
in need. There should be equally educative programs that teach parents ways to maximize their
income earning to avoid reliance on one method so that they can meet the education needs of
their children (Dorn et al., 2021). Furthermore, despite the presence of a counseling office at
the school, its efficacy is diminished by a lack of knowledge among students on the need to seek
assistance without fear of stigmatization or victimization. The process of preparing for these
changes may require a maximum duration of three months in order to adequately account for
factors such as availability and necessary adjustments.
The school-community need is the creation of school-community-based events that can
enable parental involvement, frequent networking, and collaborative efforts that help build the
school-community progressive spirit. Barg (2019), in "Why are middleclass parents more
involved in school than working-class parents," indicates that a significant issue contributing to
parents' lack of attendance at school meetings is largely attributable to the absence of a
mandatory requirement imposed by the school administration. The discourse surrounding
pertinent school-community activities should encompass the participation of all stakeholders in
order to effectively execute the activities that have received the highest number of votes. The
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recommended duration for this strategy is one month, as it necessitates a reduced allocation of
resources for its implementation.
Community Advocacy for Communication & Distribution
In implementing the proposed community resources, insufficient mental health services,
limited after-school programs, inadequate nutritional support, and lack of educational support
and learning materials, the media will play an integral part in creating awareness of their
existence for community support. According to Wittmayer et al. (2019) in “Narratives of Change:
How Social Innovation Initiatives Construct Societal Transformation," media plays a vital role in
advocacy and enabling social change initiatives. One such method is utilizing print media as a
means for the school administration to generate flyers that promote various youth programs,
emergency food services, and educational support foundations that are accessible to the
community. Under the guidance of supervising professors, students are permitted to take a
vacation from their academic responsibilities and distribute flyers among the local community.
The objective of this approach is to facilitate in-person interactions between students
and their support systems, fostering meaningful talks and providing assistance. Social media
may serve as an additional platform for schools to generate awareness, given its potential to
engage a global audience and garner support for community resources. The efficacy of social
media in advocacy stems from its capacity to simultaneously reach a large audience and
mobilize users towards collective action (Zayani, 2021). Individuals who possess a desire to
contribute to the aforementioned initiatives, despite their geographical distance, have the
opportunity to do so by means of monetary contributions and by providing assistance to poor
students, so facilitating their regular attendance at educational institutions. On many social
media platforms, anyone with the authority to do so has the ability to upload visual content
such as photographs and films, as well as facilitate the dissemination of several students'
narratives pertaining to their experiences within the educational setting, with the intention of
maximizing exposure and reach. The implementation of public relations strategies is of utmost
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importance for Bidwell Junior High School in order to navigate and overcome the difficulties it
now faces.
Advocacy for Sustained Access
The most needed support for Bidwell Junior High School is School-familycommunity
partnerships. The community partnership will be a mutually beneficial relationship that will
ensure the school has a strong network and the community will have all students enrolled and
meeting their academic goals. In order to achieve enduring outcomes in overcoming the
constraining constraints, it is imperative for the church, local authorities, and parents to engage
in collaborative efforts, as emphasized by Zayani (2021). During school meetings, it is essential
for the administration to cultivate motivation by using strategies such as providing rewards for
students' accomplishments, acknowledging and emphasizing areas that necessitate
development, and establishing a consistent and dedicated timetable.
The effective execution of projects will require a balanced combination of
comprehension and competence from the general population. The educational institution has
the opportunity to leverage the media during national or international holidays to enhance
existing awareness, sustain existing support by highlighting their achievements within
designated periods, and attract prospective students. In order to effectively achieve its
objectives, the school must engage a diverse set of stakeholders, with the media playing a
crucial role in facilitating this process.
In essence, Bidwell Junior High School will improve from its current status to become a
renowned, well-performing, and inclusive institution when the stakeholders understand the
importance of networking, collaboration, and prioritizing. Students facing socioeconomic
challenges might get advantages from donors acquired through media platforms, contributions
directed towards the educational institution, and assistance provided by employed counseling
professionals. Furthermore, engaging in schoolcommunity activities fosters the cultivation of
mutual understanding and enduring connections, so enhancing the overall welfare of the
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educational institution. Hence, by means of advocacy, the educational institution will attain
relevance, surmount obstacles faced by students, and foster a flourishing relationship with the
school community.
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References
Barg, K. (2019). Why are middle-class parents more involved in school than workingclass
parents? Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 59, 14-24.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2018.12.002
Dorn, E., Hancock, B., Sarakatsannis, J., & Viruleg, E. (2021). COVID-19 and education: The
lingering effects of unfinished learning. McKinsey & Company, 27. https://www.echs-
nm.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/covid-19-andeducation-the-lingering-effects-of-
unfinished-learning-v3.pdf
Medina, M. A., Cosby, G., & Grim, J. (2019). Community engagement through partnerships:
Lessons learned from a decade of full-service community school implementation.
Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR),
24(3), 272-287. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2019.1615923
Wittmayer, J. M., Backhaus, J., Avelino, F., Pel, B., Strasser, T., Kunze, I., & Zuijderwijk, L. (2019).
Narratives of change: How social innovation initiatives construct societal transformation.
Futures, 112, 102433.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2019.06.005
Zayani, M. (2021). Digital journalism, social media platforms, and audience engagement: The
case of AJ+. Digital journalism, 9(1), 24-41.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1816140
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