How Can You be Part of enGAUGE It?
In less than ten easy steps, you can be a part of
enGAUGE It! Use the Support Materials that are referenced and linked throughout this document – it’s all right here for you! All Support Materials can be found on our web site at
www.engaugeit.org. These materials are intended to make it very easy to be a part of
enGAUGE It, but don’t think that we don’t want your creativity, too – there are lots of ways to customize this program and extend it to make it fun and “engauging” for you!
Step 1: Get the facts.
Step 2: Get permission.
Step 3: Sign up.
Step 4: Choose a date and location.
Step 5: Promote your enGAUGE It event.
Step 6: Get ready.
Step 7: Hold your event.
Step 8: Conduct follow-up.
1. Get the facts.
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Learn more about keeping tires properly inflated and why it’s so important. The enGAUGE It Fact Sheet and Main Messages About Tire Inflation documents in our tool kit will give you the basic facts. You can get even more details by going to the various resources listed in the Information Sources document.
If you have a large student group taking part in this program, you may want to consider having the whole group take our enGAUGE It Quiz to gauge your knowledge about tire pressure and the benefits of proper inflation. The quiz is fun and interactive, and a real learning tool!
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2. Get permission.
It is important to get the necessary permissions to take the
enGAUGE It challenge in your school or through your youth group. Use our
enGAUGE It Fact Sheet and any other materials on our web site to present the program to your youth group leaders or groups in your school that could be part of the
enGAUGE It program, including the school’s environmental club, student government, or other clubs.
One other permission to take care of is to learn from your school or youth group leader how to get permission for any photos, quotes, or videos you take throughout your work with us on enGAUGE It. As part of your follow up (see step 8), you’ll be asked to send us information, including a few good photos and we’ll want to be sure you have permission to send them to us so we can post them on our website too!
3. Sign up.
Once you have the proper permission to take part in our
enGAUGE It program, you need to sign up on our web site. We have a set number of gauges we are able to donate to schools each year, so you’ll need to wait for confirmation from us that we can provide you with the free gauges you need. As part of the sign up process, we will need you to provide an official letter of commitment from your school or youth group.
4. Choose a date and location.
The goal of your
enGAUGE It event is to reach out to as many community members as possible about tire pressure and the importance of regularly checking tires. For this reason, we recommend you choose a location with a lot of foot traffic, like the parking lot of a shopping mall or strip mall. Be sure you get permission from the owner of the location to hold your event there.
As for the date, we recommend you hold your event on Earth Day as a way to celebrate taking care of our environment, but you may also choose a date on a weekend or any other date that works for your school and community.
5. Promote your enGAUGE It event.
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We suggest you develop a wide-reaching invitation list to include your school or club officials, local government officials (such as the mayor, town council, board of supervisors, and offices of transportation, environment, education, and energy), the school board and central office, local businesses, and community members. You can use our Sample E-vite to send the invitation electronically. If you can’t find email addresses for folks you want to invite, you can use the language and information from the Sample Sample E-vite to prepare a letter you can mail.
You want the community to be well aware of your enGAUGE It event so you can hand out as many free tire gauges and information cards as possible. So, make sure to publicize your event on the radio, in the newspapers, and all around your community. You can use our Sample Media Advisory and send it to the local radio and TV stations, as well as the newspapers. If you can get a radio, TV, or newspaper reporter to come out on the day of your event, even better!
And don’t forget your school or youth group newsletters and newspapers, too. Your principal or youth group leader is a good resource for letting you know what communication tools are available for your school or group.
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You’ll want to be sure that any students who will serve as contacts for media interviews before and during the event are well prepared for any questions the media may ask. To help with this, you can use two documents from our tool kit: Main Messages About Tire Inflation and Potential Media Q&A. These two documents are also helpful for students and youth who will be talking to people in your community on the day of the event. They need to know what to say and be ready to answer any questions.
Another way to promote your event is by using our enGAUGE It Flyer. Use the Flyer Instructions to customize it for your event. Post the flyers at local businesses (after getting their permission) throughout your community.
Also consider using electronic and social media to publicize your event. Use Facebook or Twitter to get the word out…and maybe even your school or youth group website. You can also use You Tube – get creative and create a video about what you are doing and post it to You Tube and see what happens!
Some schools have printed T-shirts that club members or students wore before the event to get the word out, as well as on the day of the event to help identify the students involved in the enGAUGE It event. In our tool kit, we’ve provided art work for a T-shirt (T-shirt Template and T-shirt Sample) if your school or youth group has the funds to do it. We’ve also provide T-shirt Instructions. You can print T-shirts and sell them before and during your event to use as a fundraising tool! You can also consider talking to local businesses and having them become sponsors of your event – their business logo can be printed on the T-shirt as a way of communicating their support. Follow the tips in the Fundraising Tips document to find out how to approach businesses and other fundraising ideas.
Get creative and consider involving your school’s art department. Have them develop a poster to use in place of our flyer, or an ad for a newspaper – any kind of communication product that you think will help get the word out. Keep in mind, though, that there are certain design standards you’ll have to have them follow – these guidelines can be found in our enGAUGE It Design Standards document.
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6. Get ready.
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To prepare for the day of your event, you’ll want to print copies of the enGAUGE It Information Card to distribute with each tire gauge. We recommend you print one card to give away with each gauge provided by the Newton Marasco Foundation and our partners. The information card is in color, and may be printed either in color or black and white.
If media are attending, you may also want to develop a display that can be on-site the day of your event. This can serve as a nice backdrop for media interviews and photo opportunities. The display can include copies of the flyer, information cards, gauges, and any other information you find interesting and visually appealing. You can even get creative and involve your school or group’s art department and have them help design your display.
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Consider other materials or items you may need on the day of your event, such as tables to serve as the central station for those handing out gauges, chairs, a tent in case of rain, etc. You will also want to create large signs or posters to post at your table and around the area where you’re distributing the gauges so people know where to go for their free tire gauges. You can also print out name tag stickers using our Sticker Template for students to wear the day of the event.
You can’t do all of this alone, so pull together a good team of volunteers from your school or youth group to help with various tasks before your event, including promotion, as well as on the day of your event to help with set up, handing out tire gauges, and cleaning up. Put together a sign up sheet with the different tasks and follow up to make sure they will be there to help.
And, make sure that everyone who will be handing out tire gauges and information cards on the day of your event is able to explain the facts about tire inflation. Use the Main Messages about Tire Inflation and the Potential Media Q&A to help them prepare.
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7. Hold your event.
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On the day of your event, you and your team will be handing out tire gauges and information cards, and talking to folks about the importance of keeping tires properly inflated. You may even want to demonstrate how to check tire pressure (information on how to do that is included in the enGAUGE It Information Card). The goal is to educate and reach out to as many people as possible with the tire gauges and information cards, helping people in your community know how this small step can have a big impact. You can use the Student Script and the Potential Media Q&A to help students prepare and know what to say.
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Be sure to assign a photographer to take pictures of your event for use with post-event media.
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8. Conduct follow-up.
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After the event, develop and distribute a post-event media release with photos. This allows publications and other media outlets to cover the event, even if they can’t attend in person. You can use our Sample Post-Event Press Release as your guide. Be sure to include good photos. Send the release to radio and TV stations as well as newspapers. You can also send it to everyone you invited.
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We would like photos of your event for use on our website, in our publications, and other communications materials. Please be sure that you have permission from any students appearing in the pictures. We’d also like you to fill out the enGAUGE It Event Summary Form so we can get more details about the success of your event, and get information from you that might help other schools and youth groups who take the enGAUGE It challenge. The form contains questions, such as: What was the greatest challenge? What was the most interesting fact or stat you learned? What was your community’s reaction to the information provided? How many gauges did you give away? What were some of the comments you heard from people you gave tire gauges to? The form should be emailed to Jenny Schmidt, Program Director for the Newton Marasco Foundation at jschmidt@newtonmarascofoundation.org.
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