We are so glad you are able to come to Raleigh on May 16th for the March for Students and Rally for Respect. Below are some of the details you’ll want to know for the day of the march. Huge thanks to the NC Association of Educators (NCAE) for pulling most of this together!

Agenda: 

• 9:30 am-Meet at NCAE Headquarters, 700 S. Salisbury St. (Be here no later than 10.  Get here early for parking.)
• 10:00 am-March for Students. (from NCAE to Legislative Bldg., about 25 min)
• 11:00 am-Enter Legislative Bldg. and start assembling on the 3rd Floor. This may take a little longer than usual with new metal detectors and fewer entries.
• 12:00 pm   General Assembly convenes. We would love to have families in the gallery if possible.
• 1:00 pm-Time to make appointments with your local representative and on your own for lunch. (If you have kids with you who need a break, you could take time between the march and the rally to eat a picnic lunch you bring or visit one of the close by museums).
• 3:00 pm-Start assembling on Bicentennial Plaza across from the Legislative Building for Rally for Respect.
• 3:30 pm-Rally for Respect begins.
• 4:30 pm-Rally concludes and participants can start making their way back to NCAE Headquarters by foot or by using the R-Line (bus), which picks up at Jones and Wilmington and drops off near NCAE at the Convention Center.

Parking:

Parking will be at a premium. There are some spaces at NCAE that will be for members only and for buses. There are multiple paid decks and surface lots around the area which average around $7. On this parking map, http://www.ncae.org/wp-content/uploads/raleighparking.pdf NCAE is directly across from Deck “H.”  There is also paid public parking near the Legislative Building if you want to park there and walk to NCAE. Then your vehicle will be close to the rally location.

We will begin at the NCAE Center at 700 S. Salisbury St.  We will cut over and walk down the sidewalk of Fayetteville Street, across the Capitol Grounds (sidewalks only), down Bicentennial Plaza and then to the Legislative Buildings.

On the sidewalks the permit requires us to leave a lane for other pedestrians closer to the buildings and that we are as close to the street as possible without being in the street. Given the expected size of the crowd Raleigh Police may split us into groups of 100 to get across the streets.

Meeting up: Due to the size of the crowd, it is hard to predict where will be the best place to meet up the day of the march. During the march itself, I will be posting to the NC MomsRising Facebook group about meetup location. If you haven’t already, please join the page and we’ll share meet up information there the day of the march. You can join the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/NCMomsRising/

Food: There are various local eateries including a cafeteria in the General Assembly and small restaurants in the museums. Realistically, they will probably be overrun during the event. You might want to consider packing bag lunches. If you are bringing children, consider bringing snacks. And definitely plan to bring a water bottle (and sunscreen!) as it is likely be hot.

Nursing: Edenton Methodist Church in downtown Raleigh is opening its first floor on 5/16 for any marching mamas who need a place to nurse their babies. Mama power!

Security: For the first time, there will be metal detectors to enter the General Assembly.  This has cut down the number of entry points significantly.  Given the expected size of the group, there will be significant waiting and a chance some people are not in the building by noon. We must line-up on sidewalks only, not the grass. Please have patience with General Assembly police as this will be one of their first days with added security measures. Their goal is to move as many people through as possible while keeping safety in mind.

To that end, it would expedite the process if you carried as little as possible. We know that will be difficult for a long day (and almost impossible with kids!), but try to have what you need in your pockets or in easy to search bags. Attendees with bags may get diverted to the back doors with metal detectors to expedite getting as many people in the building has possible. When you enter the building, organizers are asking that we keep the volume to a minimum and it will help expedite the process.

Signs: Signs for the March can be no larger than 3’x3’ and cannot be on sticks. We’ll also have a limited number of signs to share.

What to wear: Wear #red4ed! We’ll also have MomsRising stickers to wear.

Where to look for other information:  http://www.ncae.org/advocacy-day/ or https://may16.org 

Hashtags: #Red4Ed, #ItsPersonal, #InThisTogether, #May16, #GetReady, #TeamNCAE, #NCAEStrong

Questions? Email Beth@momsrising.org

We look forward to seeing you there!