School Choice Week

Celebrate Choice: January 22-28, 2017

This year Bluum, ICSN and our partners will be celnscwlogo2016ebrating School Choice in a new and exciting way. On Monday, Jaunary 23 we will be taking over the first floor rotunda at the Idaho State Capitol Building for a celebration of educational choice! We’ll kick off the day with a breakfast celebration and share school choice information all day from our first floor tables.

We’re looking for small groups of students and school leaders to join us at our Capitol Day celebration to talk with legislators, policymakers, and Capitol building visitors about the role school choice has played in their educational lives. This is the perfect opportunity for students to show off recent projects and talk about what they love best about their charter school!

If you or your students would like to be involved in our Capitol Day Celebration, please contact Suzanne at 208-336-8400 or SIGN UP ONLINE

January 23 – Highlight of Events
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM – School Choice Table Top Displays (snacks provided)
9:00 AM – Kickoff Breakfast, Opening Remarks from Lisa Graham Keegan, ICSN Facebook Live – Interviews with Teachers, Students & Parents
12:30-1:30 PM – National School Choice Week Tweet Up (via Twitter)
1:00-1:30 PM – Facebook Live of School Choice Celebration at an Idaho School
3:30 PM –  Facebook Live -Pre-Screening footage of the film Most Likely To Succeed

When: January 23, 2017 • 8:00-5:00 PM
Where: Idaho State Capitol Building | First Floor Rotunda

What is the goal of this event?
The goal of this event is to shine a positive spotlight on school choice and educational opportunity in Idaho. The event will raise awareness of the benefits of school choice in Idaho and will bring together students and parents, teachers and school leaders representing multiple school choices and learning options. We’d like to reach 500 Idahoans during our one-day celebration and many more throughout the week.

Is the goal of this event to impact legislation or policy?
The goal of this event is to raise awareness among parents, the general public, and state leaders about the benefits of school choice, while sending a message statewide that Idaho residents strongly support educational opportunity for all children and families.

 What will the School Choice Capitol Celebration entail?
Idaho’s school choices and learning options will be represented at a large display in the first floor rotunda at the Capitol building. Partner volunteers will provide materials about education choice, share personal stories about how their choice has had a positive impact on learning and participate in Facebook Live and other social media discussions and celebrations as well as Capitol tours and legislator visits.

Who planned the event?
The event is being planned by a coalition of partners throughout the state.

Who paid for the event?
Each partner contributed something different to make this event a success. All of the planning partners played an important role.

Why is the event happening now?
The event is timed to coincide with National School Choice Week, because the Week provides a unique opportunity to raise awareness about the benefits of, and need for, effective education options for all children and families.

How do you define school choice?
School choice is the options that parents could or should be able to choose for their children. These choices include: traditional public district schools, public magnet schools, public charter schools, public innovation schools, private schools, online academies, homeschooling and programmatic choices across schools such as dual-credit courses.

If you are not able to attend the January 23 celebration, there are still plenty of ways to participate in School Choice Week. Here is a social media guide we put together to help you boost engagement throughout the week.

DOWNLOAD THE SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLKIT

DIGITAL STORYTELLING RESOURCES

FACEBOOK LIVE INSTRUCTIONS

Schedule a Capitol Tour

We’d love to see schools of choice fill the Capitol tour docket for the week of January 23-27th. Capitol tours are a great way to engage your students in learning about the processes of government. Make sure to reach out to your local legislator to arrange a meeting for your students to get their own questions answered while you’re at the Capitol. And don’t forget to bring your yellow School Choice Week scarves! Scheduling information can be found here.

Plan a Celebration at Your School

Schools have a great set of resources for celebrating School Choice Week in their schools. Schools can host an event, organize writing letters to the editor, share school choice success stories, or show off their dance moves with the 2017 Offical School Choice Week Dance! Watch the video to start learning the moves here.

In whatever way you decide to celebrate School Choice Week, we’d love to hear about it, so send us an email with your plans!