The PERSONAL STATEMENT
Outreach, Engagement & Impact Campaign
The engagement and impact campaign is using the film to inspire young people to persist to college and to spark a national conversation about the college guidance gap. Our goal is to bolster efforts to increase access to college for low-income students by building support for more resources to close the college counseling gap and to eliminate other systemic barriers to college.
Target audience:
-
Low-income students and first-generation college students
-
Adults who support and work with low-income students (teachers, school counselors, college access professionals & parents)
-
National, state and city leaders, education administrators & funders
Organizational partnerships established to date:
Campaign activities include:
-
College and school-based screenings of PERSONAL STATEMENT utilize discussion guides and lesson plans (including the #WeBelongInCollege curriculum and lesson plan) that include hands-on workshops to amplify the film’s potential to inspire students to persist to college.
-
Screenings for educators and educators in training, sometimes using the #WeBelongInCollege curriculum and lesson plan, have been integrated into teacher & school counselor training and professional development programs.
-
Screenings for national, state and city officials, education administrators & funders focus on building support for more resources to close the college guidance gap.
-
Collaborating with the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news outlet that focuses on innovation and inequality in education, to raise awareness of how school counseling can increase access to college and other postsecondary opportunities for low-income students. The Hechinger Report's stories appear everywhere from National Public Radio to The Washington Post, The New York Times and dozens of smaller outlets throughout the country. The Hechinger Report has created a Special Report topic page on its website, called The Guidance Gap, where it published powerful journalism about the key role school counselors play in leveling the playing field. Hechinger reporters and editors also discuss PERSONAL STATEMENT with the film team at events, including the SXSW EDU conference and festival.
Here's some of the most recent reporting from Hechinger on The Guidance Gap:
STUDENT VOICE: ‘College was just another foreign word. Then it became a dream for every student in my school’ - by Karoline Jimenez of PERSONAL STATEMENT
OPINION: 1.7 million students attend schools with police but no counselor — ACLU report
What do Philadelphia’s students want? More college counseling
Two new Documentaries showcase the Long and Winding Road to College
Please get in touch if you are interested in collaborating with us on the impact campaign.