Resource Information

SCHEDULE

Each year’s schedule varies slightly, but typically we organize speakers during the fall semester and begin working in the schools at the beginning of the spring semester. Because of classroom and school scheduling, the actual dates may vary from school to school, but we try to stay within a similar time frame. There is a DPT Liaison who will work with each school. We hope each classroom/school gets these dates on the school calendar early in the year. Spring tends to be very busy with events and we work hard to avoid conflicts so as many students as possible can participate, especially in the Awards Celebration Night. A typical schedule is as follows:

Introduction – January

● A PowerPoint orientation will be presented in each school and an overview of the speakers will be provided.

● The rest of the schedule will be reviewed for each school and dates will be confirmed.

Speakers – mid-January through February

● Speakers will begin after the introduction and continue through February. Usually, one speaker visits the school each week and each school will have four speakers. DPT liaisons attend with the speakers to introduce them. In special situations, like COVID-19, teachers will be provided internet links for the speeches and will use them as they see fit in their classrooms, hopefully in a group setting with discussion afterwards. Videoconferencing for discussion can be explored, if desired.
● If necessary, due to inclement weather and school closings, speakers can extend into early March.

Project Development – March

● Final projects will be due in April. DPT liaisons arrange for pick-up by school, and/or virtual submission.

Project Submission Judging – April

● A 3 to 4 member panel of independent judges will review the projects and score them with a rubric.

Awards Celebration Night – May, see below. If virtual, details will be provided later.

● An Awards Celebration Night will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Students from each school will be greeters and readers for the event. All student projects will be on display and there will be performances or presentations of a sample of student projects. International food stations will be provided for students, their families and teachers and awards will be presented. All participating students, teachers, parents and other members of the community are invited and encouraged to attend.

● This is the most important date to get on your school calendar once it is determined. Soon after the projects are submitted, your school liaison will contact you about the projects that have been selected for presentation and requesting students who can be greeters and readers. It is important for them to be confirmed as attending and to have some time to practice. Having saved the date facilitates this.

Evaluation – first week of May

● The DPT school liaisons will meet with their school’s participating classes to do a simple, follow-up evaluation of the year’s projects. This is an important final step and results are used to plan for the following year. Information can usually be gathered in 10 minutes of class time using a Plus/Delta Evaluation method. Alternate plans will be made in the event COVID-19 restrictions are still in place.

GUIDELINES FOR SPEAKERS

A broad spectrum of speakers is chosen each fall to visit the schools. The arts, professions, volunteerism and services are well represented. People with varying philosophies and contributions are invited to share their stories with students. We ask them to tie their stories to our theme and tell how and when they have spoken out responsibly about issues that mattered to them. Each session with the students lasts about 30 minutes, with 20 minutes for the talk and the remaining time for questions. Their talks are intended to get students to think about issues that are important to them and how they can work to also make a difference in their communities.

GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS

Our teachers are the heart of DPT. Through their willingness to participate, we teach our most valuable members of our community; our youth. The following guidelines deal primarily with helping students develop their projects.

A. Project Possibilities

1. Create a Democracy Game (either digital or a board game)

2. Poetry/rap/spoken word

3. Poster art/collage/painting/drawing

4. Photography

5. Essay

6. Interviews

7. Sculpture/mobile/diorama/other three-dimensional creation

8. PowerPoint with pictures/animation/music

9. Prezi (online poster-style presentation that allows for zooming in and out for emphasis)

10. Original song or dance

11. Dramatic performance (skit, comic routine, monologue, play, puppet show)

12. Short film

13. Flash fiction

14. Speech or text for a debate

15. Community or school project related to how to speak out responsibly

16. Letters on matters of current concern to government officials or companies

17. Letters on democracy in the voice of a historical figure

18. Newsletter using Lucid Press or other publishing software

19. Any other ideas that have teacher approval

B. Projects can be group/individual, visual/electronic, displayed/performed. The size of each group is up to individual teachers.

C. Project Rubric - There are four criteria (Content, Creativity, Organization and Professionalism). Rubric can be found HERE

D. Submitting Projects

1. Prepare a list of all projects numbered continuously with each student’s name(s) and title of the project. ​Titles should be unique to the individual’s project.

ex. “Speech on the Courthouse Steps” NOT “Democracy Project...”. Group projects should list all students. Number the projects, if two or more teachers are involved, the first class should be 1-28, the second class 29-42, the third class 43-61 and so on. ​There should be no duplicate numbers in a school.

2. When numbering the projects, group physical projects together followed by digital projects and videos of performance pieces.

3. All digital projects need to be previewed by the teacher to make sure all content is saved properly and then submitted by the designated deadline via email to Mary Lee Fennessy (​mlbiscuits@​citcom.net) using Google Docs or similar format. ​If there are any questions about submitting digital projects, contact Mary Lee as soon as possible.

4. Please Note: Student performance projects (skits, puppet shows, plays, songs, spoken word, dance, etc.) must be recorded and saved for viewing by judges and inclusion along with the digital projects on awards night. As mentioned above, some students will be invited in advance to perform. This does not depend on the score received. Judges and board members choose a sampling of projects to highlight for the audience the theme of speaking out and working together.

E. Tips to share with students

1. Start with a project proposal - just a few short sentences of what your project is and how it ties to the theme. If the project is art work, an artist’s statement covering the same information would be adequate. Adding the artist’s motivation for the piece would strengthen the project. Displaying the artist’s statement with the artwork will make it clearer for the judges. Encourage your students to consider presentation and be creative.

2. If you are citing facts, statistics or quotes, make sure they are accurate. Inaccuracy can compromise an otherwise excellent project. Research is not required, but if you are making references, be sure they are correct.

3. No pencils to be used in writing the final product. It is too hard to see. Print from a computer, use ink or colored pencils/paint/crayons.

4. Do NOT put your name on your projects where the judges can see them. If it is a paper project, write it in pencil on the back. If it’s a digital project, do NOT say your name or have it appear where it can be seen. We can tell which project is yours by the list of projects your teacher turns in that has your name and the project title on it. This will be difficult with some projects. Do the best you can to insure names are not visible to the judges.

5. Edit, edit, edit! It is okay to get help with this. Correct your spelling and punctuation. All of these projects will be viewed by the judges, parents, other students and general members of the public at the Awards Celebration Night. They should be the very best you can produce.

This manual has been developed to help teachers implement Democracy Project of Transylvania, Inc. in their classrooms. If you have additional ideas that would be helpful in the future, please contact your school​ ​liaison with them. We appreciate your input!