The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Jonathan M. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Tactics - Promote SSI
For the promote SSI assignment I was at a loss what to do. I had done a presentation for the Government class at our church’s school, but it was not "noteworthy" enough for a full report. Then, my family attended a local tea party meeting and ran into a fellow SSI alum we were friends with. He mentioned that the leadership of the local tea party was very interested in SSI and wanted a presentation for their next meeting. How providential was that!
We got together with several of our friends that had been to SSI before, put our heads together, and came up with several ideas for the presentation. The best plan was that we would do a mini legislative session mimicking the final session at SSI.
There were nine kids who participated, six of which had already been to SSI. There were enough participants to do the Speaker of the House, Clerk, Floor leader, and three Representatives for each side of the issue. We met together twice at the library to write our speeches and put together the scripts for the skit. It was incredibly similar to crunch time at SSI; trying to put my thoughts in some logical sequence for a speech that was coming faster than the speed of light!
We debated the ban on teen drivers and cell phones that was used at SSI last year. For me, this was a mixed blessing. I had been opposing the ban at SSI, and for this skit I was supporting the ban! It was a good experience though, since I had a good idea on the opposing arguments to the ban, and could write my speech accordingly.
The tea party meets at a local banquet hall, so we arrived early to get set up and do a quick run through. We set up two tables in front of the speaker’s podium and mics to speak from. I also brought a slideshow of pictures that I had taken at SSI since "a picture is worth a thousand words." Since the Romeo Area Tea Party is a very large tea party averaging about 350 – 400 folks each meeting, we had a great idea for audience participation; we had the first three rows on either cast their vote on the bill. I was very skeptical about getting the ban on teen drivers and cell phones bill passed. I knew from opposing it at SSI that there were very strong arguments against it. My fellow representatives and I stressed the public safety issue and the lives that this ban would save. Our only chance (or so I thought) was in the fact that most of the tea party attendees are older folks, so I figured they would all love the idea of no teens on cell phones while driving.
The presentation went fantastic! We started out with a brief explanation of what SSI is all about and the great and wonderful results that would result if you attended! Then we got into the mock legislative session which was a great success! My part in the debate was the ending rebuttal, so I restated our key points and gave a strong call to "start saving lives now by passing this ban."
When the time came for the vote, there were 45 yes votes and 24 no votes. Victory! Everyone loved the presentation with many people taking brochures and asking more questions about SSI.
I really enjoyed doing this promotion because it was like being at a mini SSI! I hope to see several young people come to SSI this year as a direct result of our presentation.
