Join us at a Safe Schools Speaker Training Workshop – April 11, 14, or 30
Personal stories are the most effective tool that the Safe Schools Program uses to open students’ minds and enlist them in making their schools welcoming and supportive for all. Safe Schools’ community volunteers are the essential part of the presentations we use in hundreds of classrooms every year.
This spring, PFLAG NYC will hold three Volunteer Training Workshops to teach new volunteers how to share their story for the Safe Schools Program, and help existing volunteers take on leadership roles within the program. The workshops will help both new and experienced volunteers shape a personal story to fit a Safe Schools presentation. In the New Volunteer workshops, paticipants will:
- Identify personal stories that will have impact with students
- Learn how to tell your story and leave behind a lasting message
- Develop skills to make your story relatable to different audiences
- Learn how to handle questions from students about LGBT issues
- And much, much more!
Each workshop will be an enjoyable and productive few hours with other passionate PFLAG NYC volunteers. By the end, you’ll feel ready and confident to speak at a Safe Schools Program event.
Volunteer speakers are at the heart of what the Safe Schools Program does. Our volunteers’ personal stories make the Safe Schools Program uniquely powerful in reaching students. As one teacher told us, “The event was absolutely fabulous! Students commented that you never hear parents’ reactions and family stories. It was a new perspective for them. It was a really great program and led to great conversations!”
Speaking with more than 6,000 students a year, we are always in search of good volunteers to join us and go into schools to share their story. Whether you are a parent of an lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) person, someone with an LGBT loved one in your life, or an LGBT person yourself, your story can help others learn what it means to be LGBT and help change the climate in schools for young people growing up LGBT. You may not think your story is remarkable, but even the most ordinary stories told honestly and proudly can spark revelations and change behavior.
If you have always wanted to explore volunteering with the Safe Schools Program, come to our New Volunteer Orientation. Then once you’ve learned all there is to know about the program, and you decide you want to continue on to become a volunteer speaker, we invite you to come to the New Volunteer Training Workshop, to learn how to best shape your story, and to learn our latest insights on how to be effective with students. We also have a Skill Building Training Workshop coming up. This training is will be refresher workshop for existing volunteers who want to take on leadership roles within the program, and perfect their presenting skills.
These three sessions will be held on the following days. Please choose the workshop that works best for you and RSVP by sending us an email!
Upcoming Safe Schools Volunteer Speaker Workshops
New Volunteer Orientation
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: PFLAG NYC Offices at CitiLeaf Housing: 130 E. 25th Street. New York, NY 10010
Skill Building Workshop (for existing volunteers)
Saturday, April 14, 2018
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
WHERE: PFLAG NYC Offices at CitiLeaf Housing: 130 E. 25th Street. New York, NY 10010
New Volunteer Training Workshop
Monday, April 30, 2018
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: LGBT Community Center: 208 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011
If you plan to come to a workshop, please sign up in advance by emailing the Safe Schools Program at safeschools@pflagnyc.org.
Come and see what speaking for the Safe Schools Program is all about. It will be a great experience, and by becoming a speaker, you can make a huge difference in the lives of LGBT young people in schools throughout New York City.
