Reach and Teach has been creating unique opportunities for students across the country for more than five years now. A project that began as a solution to a simple problem led to an impact on high school students that no one could predict.
In 2017 Ashlyn Stutts was a high school student in Alabama and participated in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) program. After she and her partner placed third in the local competition, they had the opportunity to travel to California for the national competition – but there was only one problem. Traveling to California would be expensive and the small school she attended couldn’t provide the funds to make the trip.
“April Clark was our business and marketing teacher, and she came up with an idea to host a fundraising concert,” said Stutts, program coordinator for Reach and Teach. “She added the concert to her classroom curriculum and the students did all of the promoting, scheduling and management of the event.”
Despite a great plan and plenty of students willing to work on the project, they still had trouble finding an entertainment source – someone willing to perform for free. After calling numerous artists across the country and hearing “No” over and over, one musician finally gave them a “Yes.”
“Cameron ‘Cam’ Flener of Velcro Pygmies is from Louisville and graduated from Jeffersontown High,” Stutts said. “His band does ’80s rock covers like Def Leppard, Guns N’ Roses, Lynyrd Skynyrd and others. He said he would do it on one condition; it had to be the real thing. It’s a full-scale concert and the students have to be a part of the process throughout concert day.”
The plan worked. Stutts said the only reason she and her FBLA partner were able to go to California was due to the funds raised at the concert, and the experience was so successful, they wanted to duplicate it.
“Cam [co-founder] and April [executive director and co-founder of Reach and Teach] received tons of messages from parents,” Stutts said. “The concert changed their students’ lives, and gave them a new perspective and a new attitude about school. Reach and Teach was created as a nine- to 13-week curriculum for marketing and business educators across the country, and we’re taking this experience to new schools every year.”
So far the team has put on 86 student-produced concerts and all proceeds go directly back to the school, raising anywhere from $1,000 to $14,000 per event for various student needs.
The program is 100% free to teachers, and gives students hands-on lessons in event planning and management.
Each lesson is aligned with national education standards and includes essential questions, activities, materials and resources to make the project a success.
“Students learn how to identify target markets, solicit sponsorships, budget for a large event, and design marketing and promotional materials,” Stutts said. “They put together proposals, set ticket prices, and work with the artists to schedule special VIP or meet-and-greet opportunities.”
They’re scheduling the venue, helping the band set up and tear down after the concert, and learning what it takes to host a large event like a rock concert.
Clark is a proponent of project-based learning, a teaching method that encourages students to take the reins and actively engage in an assigned project. They have to solve problems, use creativity and, in the end, they get to enjoy the results of all of their hard work.
Teachers report watching shy students come out of their shells, natural leaders form committees for various subgroups, and an overall excitement about the task they are working on. Not only do they receive academic benefits, but the soft skills they learn such as responsibility, communication and professionalism also often lead to collaboration and more opportunity.
Flener said when it comes to creativity, the program allows students to take a few ideas or prompts and run with them.
Today, Reach and Teach has an artist roster for students to choose from, including musicians offering ’80s rock, country, pop, hip-hop and R&B to name a few, and artists do receive compensation for their performance.
The nonprofit is fully funded by donations, sponsorships, grants, and support from the state of Alabama’s Education Trust Fund.
Flener is not only a co-founder of the Reach and Teach program, but he’s also performing regularly on stage at high schools across the country, including his alma mater, Jeffersontown High.
“We did a concert in Louisville in 2019, and just this past winter we returned for one at Jeffersontown,” Stutts said. “The students act like Cam is Elvis. A lot of the schools we work with are on the smaller side, and for many of these students it’s the first concert they’ve ever been to. It’s really cool to see that, and to know their first concert is a full-production Reach and Teach event.”
Stutts said there’s no other program like it in the country, and they’re now developing new firsts for students, to be included on concert day or at a separate event.
Imagine Ex is a career exploration festival full of options from the music and entertainment industry.
“We know a typical career fair is the booths in a large room and taking pamphlets from each organization, but at Imagine Ex, students are learning about audio production, tour management, digital design and more,” Stutts said. “Professionals in the industry are at every booth and students get to try out equipment.”
Perhaps they learn how to produce a podcast, learn how to set up the lighting equipment for a concert, or operate a camera and teleprompter system.
“We started this program last fall and more than 90% of our students we’ve surveyed said they’ve learned about a new career they didn’t know about,” Stutts said. “When you ask a high school student what their plans are after high school, they often say teacher, lawyer, accountant. Now, they’re saying, ‘I didn’t know you could be lighting designer or a tour manager.’ We hope we’re helping students find their passion.”
The program pairs well with a planned concert in the evening. Students are able to see all the things they learned about in action that night. However, Imagine Ex can also be an independent offering to students during their career exploration process.
“Now is the time to try everything because you don’t have anything to lose,” Stutts said. “We want to encourage students to get involved in as much as they can.”
Through Reach and Teach, educators can also access free resources such as podcasts, TED Talks, professional interviews, case studies and professional development.
“We’ve really allowed it to evolve on its own, and these students have taken the baton and ran it further than we could have ever imagined,” Flener said.
