More than 1,600 Mankato middle school students stepped outside their comfort zones to try ballet with Mankato Ballet Company. Along the way, they discovered new movements, built confidence, and learned that sometimes the most important thing is simply giving something new a chance.
With 142 students auditioning for Willy Wonka Jr., Sanford’s musical season is off to an exciting start, full of courage, second chances, and opportunities to grow.
Project Success students are stepping into a new school year filled with opportunities to explore, create, connect, and grow. See what’s ahead across Workshops, Arts, Expeditions, and Institute, and how the Project Success curriculum connects it all.
The final curtain may have closed, but the impact of this year’s musical theater season is just beginning. Across three Minneapolis middle schools, students spent eight weeks building confidence, friendships, resilience, and the courage to step into the spotlight.
Cletus Maychrzak first encountered Project Success when his son was a student in Minneapolis Public Schools in the early 2000s. Through PS, he and his son had the opportunity to attend live theater performances – an experience that Cletus describes as “such a gift.” So in 2023, when Cletus saw a call for volunteer drivers with Project Success on a…
In early 1994, as Project Success was first taking root at North High School in Minneapolis, our founder and executive director, Adrienne Diercks, had an ambitious idea. She was already working with her mentor and former teacher, George Roberts, on bringing workshops into the classroom at North, and she envisioned theater as a powerful part…
Our students are resilient, bright, and excited to work on their futures. We know that it’s been a difficult start to the new year in Minneapolis with significant challenges to our students and families’ sense of hope, safety, and belonging. Our students asked for inspiration and hope while many were participating in virtual learning options…
In 1938, the dancer and artist Martha Graham asked, “What is America?” Her original work paired spoken word with movement, drawing on essential American texts to explore identity and democracy. Nearly 90 years later, a group of Project Success students answered that same question through their own stories, languages, histories, and traditions. Their answers were…
This November, the Project Success Theater team partnered once again with Collide Theatrical Dance Company to bring their groundbreaking production Wonderland to four of our partner schools—Olson and Justice Page Middle Schools, FAIR School for the Arts, and Thomas Edison High School. With these performances, more than 1,100 students experienced the Wonderland residency this year. Through engaging choreography and storytelling, Wonderland explores mental health with clarity and compassion. Themes such as…
On November 13, nearly 100 students from Andersen, Anwatin, Olson, and Northeast middle schools went on a field trip to The Ordway with Project Success to experience a live performance from Native Pride Productions. The planning for this multi-school, all-day field trip started at the beginning of the school year in September, when the Project Success Programs team met with principals from these four middle…
Project Success recently brought to life a first-of-its-kind dance residency program to Mankato Middle school students in partnership with Mankato Ballet Company. Over the course of four days, more than 1,700 students at Dakota Meadows and Prairie Winds Middle Schools had the opportunity to experience ballet – many for the first time. During their…
Each year, Project Success partners with Sanford, Northeast, and Andersen Middle Schools to produce a Middle School Musical with our students. Through our middle school musicals, students feel safe, supported, and a sense of inclusion. During the 10-week rehearsal and production process, students build and strengthen community, practice setting goals and making a plan to…