It’s that time of the year, school is well underway, football season is upon us, pumpkin spice lattes are abundant, and the election is just a few weeks away. This is a perfect time to get to know your elected officials and candidates for office. It’s really easy because they want to get to know you too -- after all, you are a voter. Candidates and elected officials make it easy to meet them; they are at farmer’s markets, high school football games, malls, parades, fall festivals, or just about any place where there are large groups of people.
It can be intimidating, but don’t be shy, simply go up and introduce yourself. Tell them you are a school nurse, talk to them about your school, and explain to them the challenges your students face each day.
If you still need some ideas, visit NASN’s Advocacy web page.
There are all types of candidates and elected officials from Congress down to City Council. Let me let you in on a little secret, the more local the office, the easier this person is to meet because their district is much smaller and they represent fewer people. Your words, your phone call, your email, your tweet has more power and influence on a local candidate.
To give you a little more perspective, the average Congressman represents more than 750,000 people. The average state representative represents about 56,000 voters and the average state senator represents around 156,000 voters. In short, you have a great deal more influence with your state representative or state senator than your Congressman or U.S. Senator. Plus, your Congressman or U.S. Senator represents larger areas making it much more difficult to see or meet them. They must travel greater distances to get to know their district and constituents.
So, take advantage of your proximity to your state representatives and senators and try and meet them. If you are not sure who your state representative and/or state senator is, Congress.gov will help.
Hopefully, you will see these folks more than once and can build a relationship with them. Even after the election you can continue that relationship and invite them to tour your school and health room.
Remember to find out your school or school district process for inviting elected officials to your school. It all starts with that first meeting.
Most importantly, don’t forget to vote on November 6th!