Shoals Shift – Ecosystem Transformation in Motion Transforming the ‘shoals big idea’ competition into The ‘shoals spark’ competition

Shoals Big idea competition In spring 2017, Janyce Fadden approached me to serve as the new guide for the Shoals Big Idea Competition. The Shoals Big Idea Competition was an initiative under the umbrella of Shoals Shift that invited students from middle school, high school, and college, as well as participants from the community to submit their ideas to promote the Shoals as a significant player in the digital space. The Shoals Shift core team decided that the event needed to be transformed to increase its relevance and impact.

CORE TEAM Shoals Shift Team Members UNA faculty Listerhill Sponsors Amber Paulk (guide) Janyce Fadden Mary Marshall Van Sant Guy McClure Caitlin Holland Mitch Hamm Cindy Stenger James Jerkins Heath Butler Chris Anderson

Shoals Spark Competition The core team met and decided to: Change the name of the event from ‘Shoals Big Idea’ to ‘Shoals Spark’ in order to help distinguish it from other Shoals Shift events (e.g., Idea Audition) and revitalize the brand. Shift the focus from technology ideas to any idea that would make the Shoals a better place to live and work. Focus exclusively on middle school and high school students.

Shoals Spark Competition To assist with recruitment, over 30 lesson plans were created to help teachers incorporate an activity in their classrooms that would result in a short video that students could submit to enter the competition. In addition to recruiting through local schools, we reached out to other organizations (e.g., Florence Lauderdale Public Library Teen Program) to encourage participation.

Shoals Spark Competition Over 30 video submissions were received. The core team met and assessed the videos with a scoring rubric to determine our top 5 finalists in the middle school category and top 5 finalists in the high school category. Competitors were judged on a scale of 0 – 5 on: Problem that the Idea Addresses Imagination & Creativity Leading to Uniqueness of the Idea Potential Benefits from the Idea Practicality of the Idea Presentation Delivery

Shoals Spark Competition The event was held on March 8, 2018 The event was streamlined so that there was no keynote speaker. The MC called up each student or group to present and briefly answer questions. Students were judged based on the same rubric that was used during the video submissions review. Listerhill provided awards for 5th place – 1st place in the two categories as well as an award for fan favorite.

Shoals Spark Event

DEBRIEF The core team met for a debrief after the event to discuss specific recommendation for next year, which included: Recruitment Recruit students in the summer through UNA’s summer STEM camp program by conducting “mini Shoals Spark” competitions at each camp, Recruit through teacher professional development workshops in the summer. Recruit using lesson plans earlier in the fall and reach out to specific teachers/administrators rather than broad based emails. Recruit specific student groups (e.g., Robotics club). Have the local paper do a story about the winners from the 2018 competition.

DEBRIEF Event Invite local government officials and UNA administrators to get the word out about what we are doing. Have a previous winner do a demonstration of their idea and discuss what they’ve done with their idea since the competition.

Lessons Learned Be willing to take an event and completely re-work it if you believe it will make it more relevant and impactful for your organization. Do not be afraid to ‘scale down.’ Narrowing our focus to middle and high school students was a big part of why the event was more successful this year. Do not be afraid if any or all parts of the change do not succeed – the goal each time is continuous improvement.