How to Advocate for Change in Your School

When Sofia Colon saw that there were challenges in her Stockton, California school district she decided to get involved. She worked with a group and learned a lot about advocating for kids in schools and how to speak the language that school officials would listen too. Her experience can help you to make changes in your local schools too.

Listen to the podcast here:

About Sofia

Sofia lives in Stockton, CA and works as a medical coder for Kaiser.

She was involved with student government in high school. Sofia is the mother of 5 kids.

She saw issues in her school.

The policies were determined by the elected school board and school site council puts them into action.

Stockton School Initiative

Local residents formed the Stockton school initiative.

It focused on schools in South Stockton and on how to improve scores.

They learned how to understand the language and speak to educators.

Parents from various communities were involved.

We all want our kids to succeed.

What needed to change

Safety

Literacy

Education

Graduation Rate

College Eligibility

What They Accomplished

They learned how to advocate and schools got extra money to help students.

They created accountability.

The plan was specified by local schools.

How to Get Involved

Search out school site council or PTA.

Start by attending the meetings.

Be patient!

They gave parents a voice.