Find Program Champions
DJs Tommy the Hacker and Angel Dee had the passion to do what it takes to help young listeners in need. They built a relationship with and earned the trust of the schools' target audience—youth in need of counseling or other services. They were natural program champions.
"When teaming with a local celebrity, it has to be the right celebrity," says former SS/HS Project Director Melynn Huntley. "One mistake to avoid is selecting a spokesperson that speaks to the wrong audience. We may think someone is safe or popular in a community, but unless they are popular with the target audience, you will miss the mark. Thankfully, our school district administrators trusted us and trusted Tommy when we joined with KISS FM on this effort."
But pulling off a collaboration between DJs who work nights, school staff who work days, and community services organizations would also take a champion coordinator; that’s where KISS FM’s Tammy Whipple came in. She pulled together a core group of school and community partners who met monthly on the collaboration's efforts. Not every person needed to be at every meeting. But Whipple made sure she gathered input from anyone who played a part in moving the group's work forward.
As a member of the station’s sales department, Whipple also worked her business connections to get advertising sponsorships and donations for these activities. "When you tell people it's for the kids—whether it's a corporation or a mom-and-pop shop—everyone wants to help," she says. "Even people who didn't traditionally advertise said, 'How much do you need?' We tried to be the catalyst that brought everybody together."
Whipple notes that schools and prevention practitioners who'd like to explore collaborating with their local media stations shouldn't be shy about reaching out to them via their sales departments. "Whether it's a TV or radio station, make some phone calls or send an email, and don't stop with the first place that doesn't understand your passion or your initiative," she says. "Make another phone call until you find the right one."
Rally the Larger Community in Your Efforts
Huntley, Hord, and Whipple pooled their energy and resources to identify and connect with organizations and businesses that would be interested in supporting their prevention efforts, help them extend their reach, and provide the counseling expertise and resources they lacked.
"Bullying was driving kids to drinking and drugs and suicide," Whipple says, commenting on the calls the station was receiving. "We needed more counselors and mentors to help these kids who called into our shows." So AISD enlisted the help of the community’s behavioral health agency, Family Support Services—an existing partner and a SAMHSA Block Grant sub-recipient. They also reached out to civic organization Los Barrios de Amarillo and the Impact Futures Drug-Free Coalition to help refer youth in need of services.
They also got the Amarillo Parks and Recreation Department signed on to host a Party in the Park in summer 2013, where Tommy spoke about the dangers of K2 and other drugs. Over 300 young people attended. "It’s all in the marketing,” he says. “We invited [our listeners] to come to a fun event. Then we hit them with the information on drugs. If we said, 'We're going to talk about how bad drugs are,' no one would come."
Maintain Momentum
Keeping contacts alive is a vital part of sustaining the work of any collaboration. Funding for Safe Schools/Healthy Students ended in 2013, and many of the original collaborating parties have since moved on to other jobs and districts. But that hasn't stopped school personnel and KISS FM from continuing to beat the drum in the name of prevention.
"We're still out there, trying to see who needs our help," DJ Angel Dee says. "We go to career days. We'll talk to teachers and phys ed coaches. We make sure that we’re available to not one school, but to every school. We're always networking. I think that’s a huge part of why the schools continue to reach out to us and us to them."