Legacy Class XXXVI Project Team 2 - Presentation

Name of Team Captain: Layne Holley

Team Member Names: Karen Boan, Brenda Dennis, Ian Maloy, Nikesha Tilton, Regina Traylor

Agency Assisted: Friends of Arts Magnet Education (BTW FAME Board)

Project’s Thematic Area: The Arts

Project Location: Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts

Date(s) of Implementation: January 14, 2020

Duration of Project: 2 Hours

Who was served by the project?

Parents and students (K-12) interested in the Arts Magnet Program

How many people benefited?

Direct: Approximately 600

Final project description:

The goal of the project was to attract prospective students to MPS K-12 arts education programs during the application window by providing an opportunity for Montgomery area parents and K-12 students to see the progression of arts education provided in the Carver Elementary, Baldwin Middle and Booker T Washington High schools’ magnet feeder program.

Students from Carver Elementary, Baldwin Middle School and Booker T. Washington HS magnet schools presented a unique sneak peek of their talents and programs for the community, prospective students and parents.

The Leadership Montgomery Legacy Class XXXVI Project Group, in collaboration with the F.A.M.E. Board of BTW Arts Magnet, held this free event at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. Attendees enjoyed refreshments, a chance to win door prizes from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and more. They also had the opportunity to submit their applications for enrollment at one the several kiosks located onsite.

Students who participate in the arts develop problem solving abilities, confidence, focus and commitment. Nearly every academic area is affected by arts education, including math and science. The Leadership Montgomery Legacy Class XXXVI Project Group, created the Arising Arts Expo in order to introduce potential students and their parents to the Arts Magnet System, where they might receive opportunities to develop the skills necessary to be college and career ready.

What is the vision for the future of the project?

The FAME Board intends to take ownership and make this an annual event.

Describe exactly how your project was implemented.

The Leadership Montgomery Legacy Class XXXVI Project Group met and worked with the FAME Board president and members to understand the desired outcomes for the project:

1) Increased awareness of MPS magnet programs: To be measured by attendance at the event

2) Increased MPS magnet applications for the 2020-21S school year: To be measured by FAME/MPS Magnet administrators as a “spike” during and after the event

The project team had several meetings with FAME Board members and leadership to shape the event concept and understand their desired outcomes.

Our project team met with administrators and faculty from Carver, Baldwin and BTW to explain the event design and location.

The event was designed to be a performance open house, with performances and exhibitions from students across program areas from each of the three schools. Event spaces were evaluated, with MMFA winning selection because of its size, discrete performance areas and overall arts atmosphere. Timed performance schedules would allow visitors to see various performances from every level of K-12 arts education at the three schools.

The FAME Board would act as a liaison between the project team and arts faculty and administration and provide guidance and insight based on previous events featuring student performances.

The project team enlisted the guidance of key current and former arts educators for technical requirements, resulting in the following: The project team engaged a stage manager to coordinate the performance schedule at the event and a sound engineer to provide assistance for playback, electric instruments and microphones.

Based on the event design – multiple concurrent and staggered student performances and exhibitions throughout the evening in designated spaces -- arts administrators and faculty would develop and curate a list of performances that could be delivered in the space and time frames for maximum impact for prospective parents and students.

Invitations to the community were issued via broadcast and social media.

A preregistration channel was established in an effort to estimate headcount.

An onsite registration channel was established so that FAME Board members could provide outreach and follow up to attendees after the event and offer further guidance on applications and admission requirements for each school.

MMFA security staff provided a count of visitors for the event. The project team was able to extrapolate a sound estimate attendees based on the number of performers engaged and their attending parents, faculty and FAME Board and project team members. Based on that, we can say the project exceeded its applicant/prospect attendee goal with approximately 300 true applicant prospects (non-Leadership/FAME/Schools).

How many volunteer hours were devoted to this project?

80