Draft #3
A community I was a part of for all four years in high school was my school’s Academy of Law and Government (ALAG). ALAG is a program specifically geared towards providing the students who join it with as much relevant information through specific classes for whatever law and/or government career goals they have.
ALAG is a revered community for me, and it holds a special place in my heart for what it gave to me. It gave me something I think truly makes one consider a community as such: a sense of belonging and kinship. I spent those four years with the same students who have similar aspirations as I do, the same students who are interested in similar things as I am. They wore the same black ALAG shirts every Monday like I did. They were willing to dedicate themselves to the program just like I was. ALAG was a way for me to take many steps in the right direction towards pursing what I want to do. It afforded me opportunities I might not have had without it.
The audience for this group of students is mostly made up of the students themselves. Aside from fundraising and what can really only be called recruitment presentations to incoming high school freshmen, ALAG's communication is almost solely to its members.
One specific mode of communication ALAG utilizes to reach its students is monthly lunch meetings in which the elected president would update us on what is currently happening within the program, what is going to happen during that month, and any upcoming major events. These meetings were especially effective as compared to other modes because one aspect of it showcased just how much its audience is understood, and that aspect is the promise of free pizza.
The meetings unofficially start as soon as lunch does. Like everyone else, I sign in before board members hand out slices of pizza. Being a vegetarian, I always got cheese and it did not take long before the board members remembered it. They simply handed it to me because they knew. After everyone has a chance to settle down and tuck in, the president reads whatever is on the agenda before letting people leave if they choose to. Holding meetings during lunch and offering food draws students in; keeping the meetings as short and concise as possible makes sure students do not try to sneak away before it concludes.
Typically, the meetings are just to give out information, but sometimes they asked for us to do things, and that usually boiled down to the month. Every February assembly, the president reminds us that we are participating in Pasta for Pennies. Then, a brief description of the fundraiser is given before our new goal is set. We are all given a small box to carry around for donations that are due by the end of the month.
Attendance depends a lot on what is going on in the academy. The most attended general assembly is the one in which we vote for ALAG’s board of representatives. Every member that shows up gets the chance to vote for several positions, including president-elect (chosen as a sophomore who then works closely with the current president in their junior year until they take over in their senior year) and representatives for each grade level. This assembly is advertised through campaign posters that we see all over the school, announcements in the morning, and repeated mentions from ALAG teachers.
The elections are also familiar with their specific audience. The promise of voting and the sight of campaign posters are enough to draw in members that rarely attend meetings. Brief speeches from candidates help people decide who to vote for. Not everyone in the academy is in it for politics or for government, but by being in it we all develop a respect for democracy and a drive to participate in it. Its importance is emphasized not only by discussing what had to be done to get the government to where it is today, but what it means to be involved and how involvement is the only way to effect change. Regardless of how small-scale that change is, it still gives us the sense that we are changing something. For a lot of people in ALAG, that is why we joined in the first place.
Unlike my sophomore year in which my class chose the future president of ALAG, the election the following year had three candidates for the spot. I cannot remember if previous years also had this happen, but that is also the year that I vividly recall the candidates having to stand up in front of a good portion of the academy and give a long speech about why they should be chosen for president-elect. I remember being in awe at listening to fifteen- and maybe sixteen-year-olds giving speeches that sounded like politicians who had been doing it for years could have written them.
The elections have the same audience as the academy, but it uses different modes of communication. Campaigning mostly consists of posters. This mode is slightly less personalized to the academy’s audience, though it is not less effective. Walking around our horseshoe-shaped campus, the posters are easy for me and other ALAG students to spot. They are simple, displaying the name of the candidate, what they are running for, and a slogan. If there is room and depending on the position, some have campaign promises. The ones I got to see were usually colorful and large enough to be eye-catching, strategically placed to get the most attention.
Like all communities, ALAG tries to communicate with its audience in the best way it possibly can. What the program uses to try to convey a message is centered around its audience made up of its members, also keeping in mind that its members are teenagers. By designing how it attempts to reach those students around that, ALAG is able to share what it needs to share.