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Project Goal

Ought To Be a Law is a student lead service-learning program sponsored by Hillsborough County Public Schools. The Ought To Be a Law program provides students the opportunity to work with the Florida State Legislature in drafting, lobbying, and presenting a real legislative issue in the States 60-day session annually.
The goal of the program is to provide students with a real-world learning environment to take an idea they have crafted as a bill proposal and learn countless real world civics lessons as they work their bill idea through the legislative process.
The bill is about food allergies. The students are asking for certain training on cross contamination and awareness be required for food preparation management. It is a paired down version of what they presented last year.
PROJECT: - Food Allergen disclosures and food safety

This bill is designed to help ensure that food managers are properly trained in food allergen and cross contamination safety. It would provide for a poster on food allergens to be displayed in all food preparation areas where food is prepared for public consumption. The students also reached on to the Red Shoes Non-Profit organization to learn more about the impact of allergens on people with life threatening allergies. They have also taken their work to Washington DC to speak with national non-profit organizations and members of Congress. This bill is the work of students at Sickles High School in Tampa, Florida.

About It Ought To Be a Law: www.otbal.jimdo.com  

 

How Project Benefits Students

This project benefits studetns by having them engage in public speaking with stakeholders, create coalitions, contact non-profit organizations for support for their cause, use analytical thinking skills to build persuasive arguments, anticipation of opposition line of thinking or questioning and craft anticipatory responses to those opposition questions.
Practice research strategies tied to reading with purpose (Claim/Evidence/Reasoning)
Provide real world connection to questioning (writing and answering)
Writing Persuasive claim evidence responses (Short and Long)(with purpose) 

 

Expected Outcome(s)

Students in this program gain real world experience and understanding of civic participation that just cannot be taught from a textbook. While I place the number12 on this application as the number of students directly impacted by the grant award. Please understand that as the students travel to the State Capital and back and share their experiences with their classmates the number grows exponentially. Whole campuses of students get excited about what is going on and the awareness of civic participation grows though out the participating schools. This year's bill is the original idea of students from Sickles High School. Students from Lennard and Sumner High School also presented a bill and will join the Sickles Students as the bill moves through session from January 2024- March 2024. This program was awarded last year but due to the bills lack of movement in the State Legislature we did not need to travel, and the funds were returned. We are optimistic about this year's bill successfully moving through the legislature. 

 

Detailed Cost Summary

On an average Ought to be a Law year where the bill moves through session, we will take 3-4 trips to the capital during the session. We would ask for a full $2480 amount if possible, to fund as much as we can for as many students as possible to participate.

Anticipate 1 or 2 adults and 4-5 students per trip.
Each trip would be:
1 van = $120
3-4 Hotel Rooms = $400
Gas = $100 

 

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