Example 1: Convincing Your Principal that a Planning Team with Multiple Partners Is Important

• As part of our Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Initiative, I need to touch base with you around building a planning team and the need to include multiple community partners.

• Community partners are essential to the success of our initiative. Prevention can't happen in a vacuum. The lessons we teach our students while they're on school grounds need to be reinforced within their families and community.

• Many community agencies provide services to our students and are committed to their health and well-being. Each community partner can bring a unique perspective to our effort, as well as resources (e.g., skills, facilities, or money) to support our initiative.

• We also need to make sure that we involve parents in this effort. We're always looking for ways to include parents in the things we do, and joining our school prevention planning team is a great way to get involved. The more involved they are in the process of creating our plan, the more invested they'll become in making it a success. Parents are the best prevention advocates we can hope for!

• What are your thoughts? Can I count on your support? Here is a list of people and community agencies I would like to contact. Can I begin to move forward on this?

Example 2: Convincing a Community Partner to Come On Board

• As part of our Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Initiative, I'd like to talk with you about becoming a member of our school planning team.

• Through your work in the community, I know that you are passionately committed to substance use and violence prevention. I'm also sure that you recognize the importance of partnering with a variety of organizations to meet all of our school and community needs.

• I would like you to be part of our team because of the many valuable qualities and skills that you bring to the table. As a community partner, your vision, experience, and ability to get things done will make a vital contribution to our initiative.

• I also feel this will be a great opportunity for you to become more involved with what is happening in our schools.

• I really value your participation. I hope you will join us. Our first meeting is...

Note: If you want to print this document, please choose either the MS Word or PDF file below. If you choose this option, you will be able to type information directly into the tables as you revise or fill in the tools that are provided. A PDF file will open in Adobe Acrobat Reader and can be printed, but not manipulated.

Activity 2 Worksheet MS Word (32KB) | PDF (12KB)

Answer the following questions for a planning team to which you have belonged. A majority of "no" responses may indicate a less than satisfying experience. Keep in mind, however, that there is no magic yes/no ratio for success, since you may assign different weight to different questions.

Name of Planning Team: _________________________________