We established the RealTalk ATL Ambassador Society in 2009 to help the teen members gain life skills training and cultural exposure, plan events, and collaborate with Future Foundation on curriculum.
This year, we’ve given our RealTalk ATL Ambassadors, who are at various high schools throughout Atlanta, a new responsibility: help promote Love To Stand Out, our one-year campaign that builds on the Future Foundation’s “Prepare to Stand Out” slogan and calls to mind both the idea that “it takes love to stand out” and that students should “love to stand out”—because it’s hard to be different from your peers.
The campaign includes a monthly theme that relates specifically to the areas of teen dating and healthy relationships. For example, the theme for October is “Standing Out Isn’t Scary,” and includes content on the perils of sexual relationships, such as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). A link to the RealTalk STD information page tells teens how to prevent STDs.
In August, we held a workshop for the Ambassadors around the Love To Stand Out concept. They responded enthusiastically, brainstorming and developing LTSO content.
They’ve also been part of our social media push behind LTSO, which includes Instagram (@futurefndation), Twitter (@FutureFndation, #LTSO), Facebook (Future Foundation), YouTube (FFoundation2001) and Pinterest (Future Foundation). At the end of each week, we track the success of each post on each social media platform.
Fatima, a Real Talk ATL Ambassador, posted a video on Instagram in which she shares how she Loves To Stand Out by building relationships with teachers so she can turn to them for college recommendation letters. Check out her video here. [http://instagram.com/p/d1xzHpFOYX/]
In her video, Fatima also says she is “re-evaluating friendships and choosing the right ones.” That’s her way of doing what Love To Stand Out is all about: always coming back to the concept of “standing out” by doing the right thing.
