Tag Archives: Speak Up 2013

Infographic from Getting Smart – World Language Instructors as Key Players in the Shift to Competency-Based, Blended Learning

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In partnership with Rosetta Stone, Getting Smart – a community passionate about innovations in learning – released the infographic, Elevate and Empower: World Language Instructors as Key Players in the Shift to Competency-Based, Blended Learning. This infographic provides an overview of an upcoming paper by Tom Vander Ark, Carri Schneider, Moss Pike and Winifred Kehl, and outlines the project’s goals and findings.

Included in the infographic are quotes from people the authors surveyed, trends in evolution, and more. Check out this clip from the infographic which features data from Speak Up 2013!

Check out Getting Smart’s full inforgraphic on their website! Be on the lookout for their upcoming paper, which will be released in conjunction with the team’s session at the iNACOL Blended & Online Learning Symposium in November.

Getting Smart® is a community passionate about innovations in learning. They believe the shift to personal digital learning holds promise for improved student achievement in the developed world and access to quality education in the emerging economy. They are advocates for better K-12 education as well as early, post-secondary and informal learning opportunities for all students. They attempt to accelerate and improve the shift to digital learning. They cover important events, trends, products, books, and reports. Getting Smart welcomes guest bloggers with something to say. They look for ways that innovation can help reframe historical problems and suggest new solutions.

Flashback Friday: Speak Up 2013

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Happy Flashback Friday! Every Friday we focus on Speak Up data, articles, and press releases from the past. In honor of Speak Up’s launch this past Monday, we’re taking a look at data from Speak Up 2013. Check out some data from our report, “The New Digital Learning Playbook: Understanding the Spectrum of Students’ Activities and Aspirations” below:

  • Girls outpace boys in use of many digital tools for learning, particularly the socially based tools like texting and collaborating online.
  • 29 percent of high school boys say that they are very interested in a job or career in a STEM field, but only 19 percent of girls say the same. This gap remains even among girls and boys who self-assess their technology skills as advanced. During the seven years that the Speak Up surveys have polled high school students on their interest in STEM fields, the level of student interest has not increased significantly.
  • Students continue to report less regular interaction with traditional social networking sites like Facebook, while 44 percent of students in grades 6-12 report using social media apps like Instagram, Snapchat and Vine. Nearly one-third of high school students reported using Twitter.
  • One-quarter of students in grades 3-5 and nearly one-third of students in grades 6-12 say that they are using a mobile device provided by their school to support schoolwork (these percentages were greater among Title I schools than non-Title I schools).
  • In four years, the percent of middle school students taking tests online increased from 32 percent to 47 percent.
  • High school students reported a mean average of 14 hours per week using technology for writing.
  • Only one-third of middle school students say that for schoolwork reading, they prefer to read digital materials rather than printed materials; more than half, however, say online textbooks would be an essential component of their “ultimate school.”
  • Digital equity, including to student access to the Internet outside of school, is a growing concern among district technology leaders with 46 percent saying it is one of the most challenging issues they face today (compared to just 19 percent in 2010).
This year we’ve added more questions about Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), data privacy, student interest in programming and computing, and online assessments. What will this year’s results be? Contribute to the conversation by participating in Speak Up 2014! 
 Speak Up provides an easy way for students, parents and educators to participate in local decisions about technology, as well as contribute to the state and national dialogue about educational technology. Data from the surveys – including data regarding online classes – will be released in February 2015. Click here to register for Speak Up 2014, and be sure to take the survey before it closes on December 19th, 2014!

Speak Up Loud and Clear Recognizes Top Schools for Incorporating Student, Teacher, Parent, and School Administrator Ideas into Local Education Planning

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Over two hundred schools and districts across the country were recognized for incorporating feedback from their students, educators, parents, and community as they develop strategic plans, make budgeting decisions, enhance their curriculum and determine professional development needs. Project Tomorrow®, a national education nonprofit, announced this year’s Speak Up Loud and Clear schools, a collection of the top K-12 schools that encourage and involve authentic student, parent, and educator ideas and views in education planning and decision-making. 
“I am very excited to announce the top schools in the country that demonstrated their commitment to listening to their stakeholders’ views on education and digital learning,” said Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow. “The Speak Up Loud and Clear schools have done an excellent job of incorporating the views of students, parents, educators, and administrators in local decision-making. Each year, we strive to make progress in leveraging technology to enhance the educational experience for all involved in our schools across the nation, and this year’s Speak Up Loud and Clear schools prove this goal is possible.”
The schools were selected for this national distinction from over 30,000 schools nationwide that participated in the annual Speak Up surveys, collected by Project Tomorrow since 2003, in 2013. The Speak Up National Research Project collects K-12 student, parent and educator viewpoints on technology usage and 21st century aspirations through an annual online survey process, and shares that data with national, state, and local policymakers to improve education for all children. 
The schools selected for Speak Up Loud and Clear represent a broad range of educational institutions in rural, suburban, and urban communities. The complete list of Speak Up Loud and Clear recognized schools are highlighted on the Project Tomorrow website at http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/speakup-loud-clear.html.  
Based upon total participation and demonstrated commitment to engaging their stakeholders in local decisions on education issues, five school districts were recognized as Speak Up Loud and Clear top districts:
  • Klein Independent School District (Texas)
  • McAllen Independent School District (Texas)
  • Weslaco Independent School District (Texas)
  • Shelby County School District (Alabama)
  • Fairfax County Public Schools (Virginia)
Project Tomorrow will promote this year’s Speak Up Loud and Clear schools’ distinction to the Congressional representative and state Governor of each Speak Up Loud and Clear school to demonstrate the power of educational innovation at the local level. The schools will also receive a unique Speak Up Loud and Clear logo to include on their school and district websites.  
Project Tomorrow has tapped into the expertise of this year’s Speak Up Loud and Clear schools to develop new questions for Speak Up 2014 which is open from October 6th through December 19th, 2014 for student, educator, parent input and more at http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/. Additionally, their success stories are being shared with our partners and national policy organizations to inform national and regional education reform efforts.

Report Release! RSVP to attend the release of our latest report on Online and Blended Learning at ISTE, hosted by Blackboard–breakfast provided!

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Online Learning Trends Breakfast at ISTE

Hosted by Blackboard and Project Tomorrow
When: Monday, June 30th
Time: 7:30am to 8:30am
Where: Omni CNN Center International Ballroom AB
190 Marietta St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30303
Join us for breakfast and the launch of the latest Project Tomorrow and Blackboard report on Online and Blended Learning. During this special executive breakfast, Julie will discuss the online learning trends from the Speak Up 2013 national data and moderate a panel discussion with K-12 students. Be the first to learn about this new data on online and blended learning and receive a free copy of the report!
Please visit Blackboard’s website athttp://bbbb.blackboard.com/PTBreakfast2014 to RSVP or reply to this email to confirm your attendance. We also encourage you to share this invite with any additional colleagues that may be interested in attending.
If you are not attending ISTE this year and would like to sign up to receive a copy of the 2014 Online and Blended Learning Trends Report, please click here.

Watch today’s Speak Up Congressional Briefing LIVE at 2PM ET/ 11AM PT

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Please join us for the release of the Speak Up 2013 National Findings for Teachers, Administrators and Parents via our live stream feed.

Go to the following link: http://bit.ly/SUCBLive today at 2PM ET/11am PT to watch it live!
This is the second of two Congressional Briefings on the data results from the 403,000 online Speak Up surveys submitted from education stakeholders nationwide in fall 2013. The June 2nd briefing will include a presentation of the national findings and a moderated panel discussion on the impact of digital learning tools to support college and career readiness in K-12 schools with leaders in the education field. This year’s national report, “The New Digital Learning Playbook, Advancing College and Career Ready Skill Development in K-12 Schools” will be available for download to all those tuning in.

Special Guest Speakers

Joseph South, Deputy Director, Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education
Mark Belles, Senior Vice President, K-12, Blackboard

Panelists

Dr. Katherine Bihr, Vice President and Executive Director, Tiger Woods Learning Center Foundation
Tamika V. Culbreath, Reading/ English Language Arts Teacher, Prince Georges County Public Schools
Monet Deadwyler, Rising Senior, Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy at Capitol Hill
Breck DeWitt, CTO and National Director K12 and Higher Education, EMC Corporation
Dr. Patrick Murphy, Superintendent, Arlington Public Schools, 2014 Virginia Superintendent of the Year
We encourage you to take the conversation online and live tweet during the briefing! Don’t forget to mention @SpeakUpEd/@ProjectTomorrow and/or#SpeakUpBriefing so we can see what you have to say!
To download a copy of the first report on K-12 Student data, “The New Digital Learning Playbook: Understanding the Spectrum of Students’ Activities and Aspirations” please click here.
If you need additional information about Speak Up or the Congressional Briefing, please contact: Jenny Hostert on the Speak Up Team at jhostert@tomorrow.org

Beyond the Digital Conversion: Engaging, Enabling and Empowering Innovation in the Classroom

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Join Julie Evans tomorrow for her free keynote session during the Reinventing the Classroom conference: “How Ed Tech Is Reshaping the Classroom Experience.” This is a free event bringing together classroom educators and innovators around the world. The entire conference takes place in a webinar format, and specifically encourages teachers to share their best practices with their peers.

 

When: tomorrow, May 1st, at 6PM PT
Where: log in at http://bit.ly/1n05N5Z

What: Julie Evan’s keynote session, “Beyond the Digital Conversion: Engaging, Enabling and Empowering Innovation in the Classroom”

Keynote information: The dynamic profusion of emerging technologies, both in school and out of school, is propelling today’s K-12 students to make new demands on their schools for a dramatically different kind of educational experience. Enabled, empowered and engaged, our students have a unique vision for 21st century education that reflects their desires for social-based learning experiences that are un-tethered to the traditional classroom and rich in digital media and content. The annual Speak Up National Research Project provides an exclusive window into the views of students on 21st century learning and technology. In this session we will share the latest Speak Up national findings from over 403,000 K-12 students, parents and educators with a special emphasis on the how today’s students want to be engaged with mobile learning, online and blended learning, and e-textbooks and digital content. The session will provide new insights into the digital disconnect between students and educators and stimulate conversations about how to effectively leverage emerging technologies to drive both increased student achievement and teacher productivity by re-inventing the classroom.

Don’t forget to log in to http://bit.ly/1n05N5Z at 6PM PT tomorrow. Be sure to use the hashtag #reinvent14 and mention @SpeakUpEd, @ProjectTomorrow, and/or @Julie_EvansPT if you are taking the conversation to Twitter!

Speak Up 2013 is now closed for input. Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s survey!

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Welcome back parents, educators, administrators, and students! We hope you all had a great winter break.
Speak Up 2013 is now closed for input. Special thanks to all the students, teachers, administrators, parents and community members who participated in making this year’s survey a success! All participating schools and districts will receive free online access to their local data with national benchmarks beginning February 5, 2014 in celebration of Digital Learning Day. To view past Speak Up local data results,

 

This year 403,292 Students, Parents, Educators and members of the community representing over 8,000 schools nationwide participated in Speak Up. Thank you to everyone that participated for supporting the mission of Project Tomorrow to ensure that every student has access to innovative learning opportunities. Learn more about the great promotions and happenings that took place during “Speak Up America 2013”, please click here.
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Speak Up 2013 Final Count:

403,292 total surveys taken
Students: 325,279
Teachers: 39,986
Administrators: 4,530
Parents: 32,151
Community Members: 1,346

Our top participants:

Top States
Texas with 79,540 participants
California with 50,081 participants
Alabama with 34,099 participants
Indiana with 32,381 participants
North Carolina 26,635 participants

Top DistrictsKlein ISD, TX
McAllen ISD, TX
Weslaco ISD, TX
Shelby County School District, AL
Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Top Schools
North Carolina Virtual School, NC
Weslaco High School, TX
Newport Harbor High, CA
Memorial High School, TX
Florida Virtual School, FL

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Speak Up America 2013 Contest Winners:

Photo Challenge Winners

Monday
Dr. Karl Ochsner
7th/8th grade Teacher
Pope John XXIII Catholic School
AZ

Tuesday
Ashton Burk
First Grade Teacher
North-Hopewell Winterstown Elementary,
Red Lion Area School District
PA

Wednesday
Aptakisic Junior High
Aptakisic-Tripp School District 102
IL

Thursday
Carleen Southard,
Library Media Tech III
Mission Hills High School Library
San Marcos Unified School District
CA

Friday
Mark Rivadeneyra
Marco Forster Middle School
Capistrano Unified School District
CA

ISTE Conference Registration Winners

Speak Up America Day Winner
Onslow County Schools, North Carolina

Speak Up America Week Winner
Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia

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Again, thank you for your support in making this year’s survey a success! We look forward to your participation in Speak Up 2014.

Donate 15 minutes of your time today for the future of education!

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Have a voice, participate in National Speak Up Day today December 18, 2013!
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Join the conversation about the use of technology for learning through Speak Up, a National Research Project. Since 2003, over 3.3 million K-12 education stakeholders have participated in the annual online surveys. Data findings are shared each year with federal, state and local policymakers to inform education programs, policies and funding.
By giving 15 minutes of your time to Speak Up America 2013 (www.tomorrow.org/speakup), you can make sure your voice is heard loud and clear from classrooms to the halls of Congress, from state capitols to boardrooms. Ensure that policymakers are making those important program and funding decisions based upon real data from real education stakeholders – you!
We would like everyone to have a voice in the future of how technology is used in our nation’s schools. So, please share this link with your friends, students, teachers, parents, administrators, community organizations, members, affiliates or anyone who has a passion for improving education and ask them to take the Speak Up survey TODAY.
More than 366,000 K-12 students, parents, educators and members of the community have already completed Speak Up surveys, this year, from all across the country. But now it is your time – Speak Up, America! Have a voice in the future of digital learning in our nation’s schools by participating in this year’s special Speak Up America campaign.
To “Speak Up,” simply visit www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 to take the online survey by Dec. 20th!
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Speak Up America 2013 a week in review:

366,090 (and counting!) overall surveys taken.
Surveys taken this week 51,326 (and counting!).

Speak Up Superstars! Our top participants as of today, based on total survey counts:

Top Schools:
North Carolina Virtual School, NC
Weslaco High School, Weslaco ISD, TX
Newport Harbor High School, Newport-Mesa Unified, CA
Florida Virtual High School (FLVS), FL
Memorial High School, McAllen ISD, TX
Top Districts:
Klein ISD, TX
McAllen ISD, TX
Weslaco ISD, TX
Shelby County School District, AL
Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Top States:
Texas with 69,593
California with 46,317
Alabama with 32,975
Indiana with 27,390
North Carolina with 25,791

Speak Up America’s Photo Challenge $500 grant Winners:
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Get your photos in today, there are still 3 chances to win! Entries are cumulative and multiple teachers from your school can enter each day! For more information on the photo challenge, to see examples and to find out who won, please visit the Speak Up Photo Challenge page on our website at:http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/speakupamerica_photoChallenge.html

Speak Up Data Snapshots

Click each audience to view the 2013 preliminary data infographic for that group, or to view them all go to:http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/speakupamerica_snapshot.html!
Educators
Parents
Students
Administrators—Thursday, December 19, 2013
Community Members—Friday, December 20, 2013
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Thank you for your interest and continued support of Speak Up! We look forward to your participation in Speak Up 2013! Be sure to stay updated on all things Speak Up by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and ourBlog.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at jhostert@tomorrow.org or via phone at 949/609-4660 ext. 17.
Jenny Hostert
Speak Up Operations Manager
Project Tomorrow

Educators, have your students participate in Speak Up for a chance to win a $500 grant for your classroom or school!

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Photo Challenge

 Join in on the fun and take part in our Speak Up America Photo Challenge! Just Follow the steps below:
Photo Challenge
DOWNLOAD THE SPEAK UP AMERICA BADGE AT:
Post photos to one of the following social media sites:
Or by email to: speakup@tomorrow.org
We are very sensitive to student and participants’ privacy and with that no faces are required to be in the photo. We just ask that you incorporate our special Speak Up America badge into a photo of your classroom or school, the more creative the better!

Challenge Rules:

·         There must be record of survey completion in our system i.e. surveys taken at your school.
·         Winners will be announced the following day
·         You may only submit one picture per teacher or school per day (a school and multiple teachers from that school may enter on the same day, increase your chances!)
·         A teacher or school may only win once during the photo challenge
·         At least 25 submissions must be present for daily selection to occur, be sure to encourage others to participate.
See below for some examples:
 

Other ideas:
-Image of the front of your school with the Speak Up America Badge
-Photo from back of the room of students completing the survey
-Group photo of teachers or school office staff who have completed the survey

Check back later to see today for the announcement of Monday’s Photo Challenge winner!

Announcing the “Speak Up America 2013” Campaign!

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Since 2003, the annual Speak Up survey has collected data from students, parents, educators and the local community about technology, learning, and schools. This year over 300,000 Students, Parents and Educators representing over 5,500 schools nationwide have already participated in Speak Up. In honor of the superb survey period this year, on Monday Dec. 16th Project Tomorrow will kick off “Speak Up America 2013” a weeklong event to celebrate Speak Up participants, past, present and new! During this event there will be a daily release of Speak Up 2013 preliminary data snapshots, recognition of top participants and best of all opportunities to win free ISTE Conference registrations and a daily $500 classroom or school grant! Now’s the time to participate, Speak Up closes on December 20th!
Speak Up today and all next week at http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013/.

Below you will find all the great promotions and happenings taking place during Speak Up America 2013:

  • National Speak Up Day – Wednesday December 18th
  • $500 classroom or school grant Photo Challenge – Daily
  • Free ISTE Conference registration – 2 chances to win throughout the week
  • Speak Up 2013 Preliminary data snapshots– Daily
  • How does your state compare? View the “Are you Speaking Up” state participant map to see where your state falls. – Daily
Click here to view promotions and happenings on our website.
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Donate 15 minutes of your time today for the future of education! Have a voice, participate in National Speak Up Day on Wednesday, December 18, 2013!
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The highlight of the Speak Up America 2013 Campaign will take place onWednesday, December 18, 2013 with the launch of our first ever National Speak Up Day! National Speak Up Day is the day to encourage your community to participate. We would like everyone to have a voice in the future of how technology is used in our nation’s schools, so please share this link:www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 with your students, teachers, parents, administrators, community organizations, members, affiliates or anyone who has a passion for improving education and ask them to take the Speak Up survey.
The more surveys you get in the more opportunities you have to win a FREE ISTE CONFERENCE REGISTRATION! Every survey submitted on this date will be entered into a special drawing for not only a free ISTE conference registration for your district, but once in Atlanta, dinner is on us. Here’s your chance to pick our CEO Julie Evans’ brain on all things digital learning by joining Julie for some real Southern Cooking at Pitty Pat Porch.
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Educators, have your students participate in Speak Up for a chance to win a $500 grant for your classroom or school! Planning to have your class or school participate in Speak Up this week? Already had your class or school participate? Need a little incentive to get your class or school to participate? Join in on the fun and take part in our Speak Up America Photo Challenge.
To celebrate technology and all our wonderful Speak Up participants we will be offering a daily $500 grant to one lucky Speak Up participating classroom or school during the week of December 16. All you need to do is take a picture with the Speak Up America 2013 Badge and post to either our Facebook, Twitter, orInstagram account with the hashtag #speakupsnapshot or by sending us an email at speakup@tomorrow.org with your photo to be entered to win. Please include an estimated number of Speak Up participants and the hashtag #speakupsnapshot in your comments!
We are very sensitive to student and participants’ privacy and with that no faces are required to be in the photo. We just ask that you incorporate our special Speak Up America badge into a photo of your classroom or school, the more creative the better! See below for some examples:
photo 1
photo 2
photo 3
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Other ideas:
-Image of the front of your school with the Speak Up for America Badge
-Photo from back of the room of students completing the survey
-Group photo of teachers or school office staff who have completed the survey

Challenge Rules:

  • There must be record of survey completion in our system, i.e. surveys taken at your school.
  • Winners will be announced the following day
  • You may only submit one picture per teacher or school per day (a school and multiple teachers from that school may enter on the same day, increase your chances!)
  • A teacher or school may only win once during the photo challenge
  • At least 25 submissions must be present for daily selection to occur, be sure to encourage others to participate.
***

Free ISTE Conference Registrations
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Thanks to our good friends at ISTE, we have received two 2014 ISTE conference registrations (A $269 value) to gift to two of our Speak Up districts! The great thing is every district has an opportunity to win, all you need to do is encourage your K-12 community to participate in the survey during the Speak Up America 2013 campaign. This is a great way to reach out to different audiences that may have a lower participation number than you would like, for example a target of your K-12 parents, teachers or local community members! The more surveys you get in, the more opportunities you have to win! Your district will have two chances to snag a free registration:
1.) Get in any last minute surveys, any survey that comes in during Speak Up America 2013 campaign beginning Monday December 16, 2013 through the close of the survey on Friday, December 20, 2013 will be entered to win. We will be pulling a randomly selected survey during this timeframe and will award the free ISTE conference registration to the district the survey belongs to.
2.) Encourage participation in National Speak Up Day (12-18-13)! Every survey submitted on this date will be entered into a separate drawing for a free ISTE conference registration for your district.
In addition to your free ISTE conference registration, the selected recipient attending the conference will also have the opportunity to join our CEO Julie Evans for some real Southern Cooking at Pitty Pat Porch in downtown Atlanta. Here’s your chance to pick our CEO Julie Evans’ brain on all things digital learning!
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In celebration of our first annual Speak Up America campaign, we have pulled a special snapshot of preliminary data for students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members. Each day we will release a special infographic on NEW Speak Up findings. This is also the first time we’ve ever pulled a sampling of the Speak Up data before completion! Check below to see when we will be releasing each snapshot of data:
Monday, December 16, 2013—Educators
Tuesday, December 17, 2013—Parents
Wednesday, December 18, 2013—Students
Thursday, December 19, 2013—Administrators
Friday, December 20, 2013—Community Members
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Is your state one of the top Speak Up states? Can your state do better? Check our Project Tomorrow Homepage (www.tomorrow.org) throughout the week to find out and track your state’s progress.
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Thank you for your interest and continued support in Speak Up! We look forward to your participation in Speak Up 2013! Be sure to stay updated on all things Speak Up by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our Blog.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at jhostert@tomorrow.org or via phone at 949/609-4660 ext. 17.
Jenny Hostert
Speak Up Operations Manager
Project Tomorrow