Educational Programs

Participating in events that benefit our communities is of high priority to OEC. Cooperatives are businesses created by like-minded people to address a common unmet need. Cooperatives come in all shapes and sizes, but they all hold to the seven Cooperative Principles and core values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. This is what makes the COOPERATIVE DIFFERENCE.

⇒ Imagine you are granted $500 to create a project benefitting your community. How would you utilize the funds? Who would benefit? How? Why is this important to the community? Create a project proposal outlining your project using the sample template as a basis.

Need inspiration: 

DoSomething.org 75 Community Service Project Ideas

Every good cause needs an event to inspire interest and raise money. A community initiative will only succeed if people know and care about it. Let’s promote it!

⇒Imagine a fundraising event for your community project. Create a promotional video for social media. (Max: 2 min/2 MB) 

Good promotional videos include the following:

• Hit the highlights. Who? What? Where? How? Why?
• Stay focused. This is not the time to go into great detail about your project’s mission. This is to promote the event to potential attendees and donors.
• Good audio is essential. Whether you have talking or music, make sure we can hear it clearly.
• High End or Unedited—there are all kinds of effective promo videos. Use your skills and have fun.
• Know the required format. Social media platforms often have specific requirements for posting video. For this project, shoot horizontal.

Oklahoma Youth Tour allows students to see how government works up close. During our “Capitol Hill Day,” we walk the halls of Congress, visit with Members of the Oklahoma federal delegation, and tour the U.S. Capitol. Being an informed and active constituent is an important civic duty.

⇒ Write a professional letter to an elected official about an issue important to you. This could be the issue surrounding your community project or an unrelated topic.

Elected officials include:

• local (school board, city council, mayor, etc.), 
• state (governor, state senators/representatives, state superintendent, etc.)
• federal (president, U.S. senators/representatives).

Click here to locate elected officials serving your area.

Writing the Letter

While most of us use email or instant messages for our daily communication, formal/professional letters still have an important part to play. Formal, typed-on-actual-paper letters are the most appropriate and effective choice in certain circumstances, like . . .

• Writing to an elected official or government office
• Cover letter for a job application
• Reference letters to colleges
• Fundraising/Grant requests to people you do not already know
• Any letter you want an official copy of

Follow this professional letter template. [Click here]

Tips:

• Keep it brief. Letters should be one page and limited to one issue.
• Identify yourself as a constituent. Tell your elected official who you are: your school, your city, your district, etc.
• State your issue up front before going into detail.
• Hit on up to three of the most important points about the issue.  
• State why this issue matters to your community. Include a personal story illustrating how this issue impacts you or those close to you. 
• Remember, your elected official is there to represent you and the other people in the district. Be courteous, but know you have the right and responsibility to communicate your view. Elected officials welcome insight from their constituents, whether they voted for them or not.