In Person Meetings

Site Tours

Site tours are an important experience where legislators get to immerse themselves in the Outdoor School experience if only for an hour or so. Many get to see where field studies take place and see students learning in ways they don’t often have the opportunity to in their everyday classrooms. Some legislators attended Outdoor School when they were students or have children that attended, but some may have never been to Outdoor School.

If you encounter a legislator at Outdoor School, they will likely be with a staff member, a member of the Friends of Outdoor School staff and some other folks. Just keep being your awesome self. Decision-makers want to learn how Outdoor School works. They might ask a question if the timing is appropriate. If they do, just answer to the best of your ability. If it seems appropriate, you can thank them for supporting Outdoor School!

Individual Meetings

If you want to meet with your legislator in person, please coordinate with Friends of Outdoor School, these meetings are usually about 15 minutes total. When meeting legislators in their offices at the Capitol building, you will likely only have a few minutes to talk to them. Have a short “elevator pitch” ready to explain the importance of funding Outdoor School to you personally. Don’t worry about statistics or anything like that, they want to know why Outdoor School is such an impactful experience and how it has changed your life.

Practice with a friend or family member ahead of time to get comfortable telling your story in a short amount of time. Introduce yourself and tell the legislator your affiliation with Outdoor School. You also want to be prepared to answer any questions they might have. If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t hesitate to tell them that you don’t know but you’ll find the answer and get back to them. If you’re alone, make sure you write that question down then reach out to the Friends of Outdoor School team to get the answer and email or call them back! It never hurts to have a second chance to chat with decision-makers.