So far Fresh Air Family Ambassadors have appeared on Fox 6 and on the front page of the Birmingham News! They have redesigned this website with their graphics and photos and participated in a news story for 1 billion readers around the world.
Join this dynamic group of young people, age 12-16, either in South Alabama or Birmingham as they study:
Nature
Photography
Writing
Media
Leadership
And have fun!
We will be starting a new Ambassador class soon with a new Wal-Mart Foundation grant! Keep watch for an upcoming announcement.
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So far, Ambassadors have appeared on
Fox 6, the front page of the Birmingham News,
met with U.S. State Department diplomats
from Asia and Africa, spoken to crowds of
500 people, served as Ambassadors during
a major community event, and written a
blog on AL.com.
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The Fresh Air Family Ambassador Program
Join the Fresh Air Family Ambassador Program for youth aged 12 to 17. The Ambassador Program will give training for real life experiences writing for a professional newspaper blog, making speeches and presentations, attending corporate meetings and media interviews.
This program is taught by Verna Gates, who recently received a lifetime achievement award for her international journalism career from the National Federation of Press Women. Verna enjoys sharing her love of writing and media and, through her connections, offers unique opportunities for her Ambassadors.
The Ambassador Program gives youth unusual opportunities to improve school performance as they gain self-confidence, reading and writing skills, media experience, speech and presentation skills, corporate insights and highly valued resumes for college and jobs with real world experiences.
Fresh Air Family’s excellence in education was recently rewarded with two large federal grants over three years to start after school programs.
The Goal
To develop leaders who can serve as Ambassadors for Fresh Air Family as they gain real life experience. To develop Ambassadors so that they can advance to serve on the FAF board where they will make real business decisions such as programming and strategic planning.
The Program
Ambassadors will receive four hours or more per month of intensive training for in the following categories:
1. Writing
Fresh Air Family has been invited by AL.com, the news website for the state of Alabama, to write a youth blog based on FAF‘s outdoor adventures. It will require several entries per week. Ambassadors will be trained as journalists by Verna Gates, founder and Executive Director of FAF, who has worked as a journalist for nearly 30 years. She started at CNN and is currently a correspondent for TIME Magazine and Reuters International News Service, the world’s largest news organization with one billion readers worldwide. Verna is being nominated this year as the nation’s leading journalist by the National Federation of Press Women. She has trained several young writers to follow her in winning numerous national awards.
2. Photography
Ambassadors will do one intensive workshop with a nature photographer to improve skills. There will be a one day hike with a nature photographer who will teach techniques of capturing plants and wildlife on camera. Other sessions will focus on photography throughout the year.
The Ambassadors will provide photos for the AL.com and FAF websites. They will have a portfolio at the end of the year of published photographs. At the end of the year, we will have a photo contest and auction off the best photos as a fundraiser.
3. Speeches
Ambassadors will be taught how to write and deliver speeches. They will be sent out to schools, libraries and community groups as speakers for real world experience. They will have at least two sessions on speech writing and speech deliver. They will be trained by Verna Gates who is an award-winning storyteller and popular speaker.
Last year, one FAF board member made a presentation to the Alabama Science Teachers Association.
4. Presentations
Photographs and speeches will be combined into computer presentations. There will be at least two sessions on how to create a computer presentation. The Ambassadors will each get a copy of the presentation to present at their school or for a community group.
5. Media training
Fresh Air Family regularly appears in the media: on radio, television and in print. Ambassadors will be taught how to answer media questions on camera and off. Verna Gates, who charges CEOs $5,000 for this same training, will use her CNN years and media degree to train the Ambassadors.
Ambassadors will be asked to appear on TV and radio programs and to accept media interviews. They may also be asked to do voice overs for public service announcements and videos.
6. Networking
Last year, Youth Board President Joseph Lang and Board Member Mallie Lang accompanied Verna Gates to a reception with Governor Bob Riley and First Lady Patsy Riley. They introduced themselves to the adults in the room, got interviewed on television and photographed with The Governor and Mrs. Riley. Ambassadors will be trained on how to introduce themselves and how to talk with adults at a function or business meeting. They will have business cards and special shirts to wear to identify them as FAF Ambassadors.
7. Working a booth
Annually, FAF hosts a booth at City Stages, Earth Day, the Pediatricians conference and other places. Ambassadors will be trained on how to greet the public, how to talk about FAF and how to answer their questions. Ambassadors will be expected to help work booths as the need arises.
8. Fundraising
Ambassadors will be trained in fundraising, both phone calling and face-to-face. Several Board Members have accompanied Verna Gates to meetings with CEOs. Ambassadors will be trained on how to conduct themselves professionally in a corporate office.
Meeting Places
Nominations can be made by anyone from any part of Alabama. While FAF is based in Birmingham, any community that can gather a critical mass of 10 Ambassadors can request training sessions in their area. Otherwise, training sessions will be held at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
Benefits
Ambassadors will receive training that will build resumes for future success. They will learn skills rare in the workplace and rarer still in classrooms. They will finish the program with a body of work helpful for any college application. They will also gain self-confidence that will shine through in any future interview or job situation.
Sign Up Now
The program costs $60 per month and will be paid at the first of each month. Some partial scholarships are available, just write a letter describing the need. Please call Verna Gates at 205-540-6642 or verna@freshairfamily.org for more information. Write today to Fresh Air Family at P.O. Box 321038, Birmingham, AL 35232. Candidates who write their own letters will be given preference. Include a one month deposit or a year’s membership for a deep discount. Or you can send the letter and make the deposit over our secure paypal link on our homepage of the website: www.freshairfamily.org.
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