Creating a Community Showcase to Share Student Work and Strengthen School Relationships

Summary of Project

Students collaborated with local businesses and school leadership to design a school event proposal for Ruskin High School principal Dr. Ernest Fields. The goal was to create an event that connects families and community members to school programs, showcases student learning and leadership, and provides fundraising opportunities for student organizations. After touring both a large-scale conference hotel and a local restaurant to learn about event planning, students developed and presented three detailed event proposals: a talent show, a community volleyball tournament, and a student showcase. The student showcase was selected by the client for best aligning with the school’s vision and priorities. The planning process gave students real-world experience in project management, hospitality, and client-centered design.

Takeaways

All groups struggled with the inconsistency of school attendance during the unit. Due to the winter weather, much of the pre-work and planning had to be conducted virtually. We also had to shift the way the presentations could occur because our original planned dates kept getting rescheduled. Ultimately, students recorded their pitches, and we were able to submit to the client that way. It wasn’t ideal, but the benefit is actually having these recordings to provide to future students as examples.

Advice

Don’t overthink it. Spending a lot of time worrying about your students creating the perfect project is counterproductive to the process. The students might not create something usable; they might miss entirely. But the process is really the part that matters.