My name is Genoveva G. I am a junior at Pecos Connections Academy, and I am from Tucumcari, New Mexico. I have been supporting the 24/7 campaign for about three years through the student organization Evolvement. Today, I am going to share with you my personal experience recording a virtual school board meeting. 

Because of the conditions of COVID-19, schools have been closed, making it really difficult to talk about the 24/7 campaign in person. But I know that schools will open up eventually, and it will be important for the school board to keep school campuses healthy and free from the influence of addictive substances. Since school board meetings were not happening at the time, we took things into our own hands and decided to record a video about the needed policy changes for the Tucumcari school board to watch on their own.

To start it all off, I was a bit nervous, scared, and excited to do the recorded presentation. Our wonderful campaign manager helped me through the whole process and was like my partner during the presentation. Even though it was a video recording, we still had to dress nicely and presentably and prepare before the actual day of recording. I had many rehearsals with the campaign manager; we even prepared a script that was formal but also to the point and got our message across. Our message focused on what the Tucumcari school board could do to update the policies to keep all their schools tobacco-free 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

The day of the presentation, I was extremely nervous and scared, thinking that I was going to do pretty badly. But I took a deep breath, put on my game face and got to work. I felt a little comfortable because it was just me and the campaign manager working together and recording the video, but I was also still pretty nervous since it was indeed an important and serious matter. We practiced once before we actually recorded, which went very well, and then we prepared to begin the actual recording. Once we started, I put all my fears and anxiety behind me and focused on speaking clearly, making eye contact with the camera, and putting our message out there. We went through the whole presentation and everything flowed smoothly and perfectly. 

After we finished, we sent the final video along with other materials to the Tucumcari superintendent to share with the board, and we are waiting on their response. I really hope that I receive a response back saying that they will take our policy suggestions into consideration and vote to become and stay 100% tobacco-free. I felt more confident after the presentation because it was something I did out of my comfort zone. If you were to ask me if I’d do another virtual presentation, I would say yes or I’d even encourage another member to do one as well. The reason I say that is because it’s an amazing opportunity to gain public speaking skills, confidence skills, and presenting skills. If I could do it all again, I honestly would not hesitate because I know it’s a step in the right direction to help protect my community from tobacco use in and around schools.

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