Ya’at’eeh! My name is Sky Harper and I am a Junior at Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, New Mexico. This is my third year in Evolvement, but my first year on the Evolvement Leadership Team. I recently conducted a meeting with my principal pertaining to statistics tobacco about tobacco use and tobacco policy awareness in my school.

I had scheduled a meeting with my principal because getting their support is very beneficial towards persuading the school board to also support Evolvement and our campaigns. As the date crept closer, I realized that I was nervous and scared. I received the envelope that held all the materials I would need, such as the pledge card and a statistics sheet which made me feel a bit better. Finally, the day of the meeting was here. After school, I gathered myself up and pushed the nervousness I had to the back of my mind and walked up the stairs to my principal’s office. I quickly reviewed my talking points one more time and stepped into his office. While there, I gained more and more confidence as I talked to my principal and showed him the information I had. He and I agreed that the statistics should be better, and he said he will support Evolvement. I had my principal sign a support card, pledging to support the goal of creating a tobacco-free school and my meeting was over.

This experience overall was very important for future endeavors of the 24/7 Campaign. Getting support from the principal is very influential to school board members. My principal pledged to help make Navajo Preparatory School truly tobacco free. Through this experience, I learned that speaking to people who have a high position is not that scary. They are helpful and very supportive if you explain your views thoroughly. This is the first of many steps to eliminate tobacco at my school.

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