Workshops, A Foundation of PS Programming, Evolve to Meet Students Where They Are

Since 1994, the foundation of Project Success programming has been our in-class workshops. These workshops allow us to reach each student in every school we serve, as our professional facilitators deliver our proven curriculum to middle and high school students once a month in their English classes. That curriculum and those relationships are also at the core of all Project Success arts, expeditions and certificate programs.    

This March, when Minneapolis Public Schools began teaching students through Distance Learning as a result of the global pandemic, our workshops model needed to pivot. At a time when personal connection and relationships became more important than ever, we knew innovation was the key to continuing to reach students.    

“I was meeting with principals and teachers, and they were telling us they need us more than ever,” says Laura Garcia, PS Director of Schools and Curriculum. “And that what they need is innovation, engagement and relationship building.”    

Our program staff immediately got to work planning new ways to connect to students in their classrooms from a distance. The result? A flexible model allowing for both on-demand and live, facilitated workshops taking place in Google Classroom and over Zoom.    

The model was designed not only for students, but also for teachers. “Some teachers were already coming to us saying, ‘How soon can I use your videos in my classroom?’’ says Kathleen Herding, Workshops Manager. “They’ll work a prerecorded video into a block schedule or an asynchronous day. It gives them flexibility.” We call our video series, “PS GO.”  

Each month, Project Success Facilitators produce a PS GO workshop module for each grade from 6th through 12th grades, incorporating our proven curriculum, familiar PS faces, and our methodology that is responsive to our students. The video can be delivered by our partner teachers, on its own, or facilitated live by our PS staff.   

Our facilitators still love to see students live whenever possible, and many partner teachers have opted for our live workshops. “It provides community building,” says Kathleen. “It’s hard for everyone to get to know each other this year because of the constraints of online learning. Everyone loves having the time set aside to build community, and teachers love hearing students’ responses to our prompts.”   

The response has been overwhelmingly positive. “In a time of uncertainty, Project Success has been unwavering and nimble in their support of Minneapolis Public Schools students, families, and staff by providing opportunities for growth and community connection,” says Roosevelt High PS Partner Teacher, Rebecca Oberg.    

So far this school year, PS facilitators have done nearly 200 live workshops in students’ virtual classrooms, and reached many more classes through pre-recorded content.    

“We love seeing students live, but if it’s not possible to see everyone, I can give them a video that’s created and vetted by us at Project Success, so they know they can trust the quality of the material,” says Kathleen.   

In years past, each PS partner school has worked with just one or two facilitators, allowing them to become part of the fabric of the school community. As the PS team innovates content creation, they’ve maintained this important aspect of our workshops programming by making sure familiar faces are facilitating live workshops and adding their own twist to pre-recorded workshop videos.    

While distance learning creates some challenges, it’s also brought our team a sense of creativity and opportunity. After the entire PS staff went through a training on Culturally Responsive School Leadership, staff had the opportunity to dive deep into the curriculum they were creating for online workshops and analyze it through a new lens.    

Their understanding of digital tools expanded, too — with the discovery of supplemental technology to bring their workshops to the next level and build deeper connections with students.    

At Project Success, one of our core values is willingness to grow and change. Our facilitation team looks forward to getting back in the classroom, in person, and seeing their students — but as the world grows and changes around us, we are still finding ways to connect students to their purpose.