Wisconsin Health and Physical Education Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Advocacy in Action

(3 Minute Read)

Wisconsin Health & Physical Education (WHPE) recently completed ten years of involvement showcasing quality physical education and connecting with state school board policymakers by updating them on ‘best practices’ and ‘hot topics’ in Health and Physical Education (HPE) during their annual Wisconsin State School Board Convention (WASB).

Back in 2009, I read an article by Steve Jefferies (2009), publisher of Pelinks4u, in Strategies titled: Advocacy in Action: TIPS & TECHNIQUES, one day prior to my involvement in our WHPE first-year delegation.  At that time, members of the WHPE leadership and Teachers of the Year (TOYs) staffed a booth in the WASB’s Exhibit’s Hall for two days.  They spoke to attendees about Standards & Assessments and distributed printed info pieces on what constitutes quality physical education.  The conversations centered around Steve Jefferies’ 10 Steps for Effectively Advocating with School Boards, which includes his vision, structure, accountability, and advocacy.  During the conversations, attendees were shown how HPE connects to academics using a clear concise message and the delegation was able to build relationships during conversations with school representatives from Wisconsin’s major geographical regions.  Following these give and take booth conversations, the TOY’s conducted a breakout session illustrating four grade level (Pre K – 12) mini-lessons.  Opportunity for audience Q & A was afforded followed by a short summary with handouts.

This core group has continued to advocate at WASB each year and recently staffed a booth where attendees could receive general information and seek answers to specific questions.  For example, one breakout session was titled “Every Student, Every Teacher, Every School-Opening Possibilities for All”

What We Have Learned:

• Communicate with state school associations and attend their convention.
• Staff a booth to increase awareness and piggyback onto their convention theme.
• Have a clear message delivered by all representatives.
• Keep handouts to one page and use graphics to increase visibility.
• Involve students whenever possible.
• Link your message to that of SHAPE America.
• Review, revise, and expand advocacy vision.

WHPE has moved from attendees barely knowing us to be comfortable to ask, “What are you doing during your breakout session?”  During the early years, we made around 50 contacts and have increased that to nearly 100 interactions at the booth each year.  One unnamed administrator indicated following this year’s breakout, “I haven’t had this much fun since I was a kid…Who knew going to a school convention would result in both learning and having fun while being able to move around.”

I encourage state associations to investigate replicating such advocacy involvement with your WASB and use themes to get policymakers connected and moving.  For example, one of our first themes was Move to Improve.  Other examples of our past themes include:

• “Catch Our Energy” – a connection to the core curriculum.
• “We are Built to Move” – brain-based info related to standards
• “Telling our Story- Dodgeball is Not PE – offering new activity ideas.
• “50 M Strong/It Starts with Us” – activities and resources to improve learning.
• “Plan, Teach, Assess & Achieve through PE” – illustrating there is more to PE than moving about the gym.

I hope these ideas have served to spark how other states can engage in advocacy and move our profession forward.

References
Jefferies, S. (2009). Advocacy in Action: TIPS & TECHNIQUES: School Boarding 101: Winning Friends and Influencing People. Strategies, 22(3), 35-37.  https://doi.org/10.1080/08924562.2009.10590823  Free download on Google Scholar.