Students at Demopolis High School are majoring in public relations and business administration.
Students have spent weeks coordinating a local concert with Jim Mowery, singer and contestant on NBC’s “The Voice.”
Reach and Teach helped set up the business. Since its inception, the program has worked with high school students in the Southeast to perform more than 60 concerts on campus. The program teaches business, marketing and entrepreneurship concepts by giving high school students the opportunity to plan, promote and perform concerts.
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April Clark, CEO of Reach and Teach and a former high school business teacher, helped found the organization in Leighton, Alabama, with Ashlyn Brown, a former student of hers.
“In 2017, we reached out to hundreds of bands and booking agents, all of which turned us down…except for one,” Clark said. “The lead singer of The Velcro Pygmies (Cameron Flener) said yes under a few conditions: It had to be a real rock concert, lights out, standing room only, and the students had to help make the event happen.”
“I was one of two students who auditioned for the first Reach and Teach concert,” Brown said. “In high school, I won a website design contest at the Alabama FBLA convention that qualified me for the national competition in California. To raise money, we decided to hold a concert.”
Brown was a member of Future Business Leaders of America, a high school business program; Clark was his mentor. Together, the group worked with the school’s sports and entertainment marketing class to launch the concert.
Besides the actual concert, the students have other responsibilities: hosting a podcast and making a video.
Demopolis students have been working on this project for the past few months under the guidance of their business teacher, Courtney Kerby.
“This is the second Reach and Teach concert that we have done at Demopolis High School. Our first concert was scheduled for March 2020 but the pandemic forced us to postpone it until October 2021,” said Kerby. “We hope to make the Reach and Teach concert an annual event in Demopolis.”
“Each school we work with is different because the students’ mindsets are different,” said Clark. “We work with schools in the southeast and it’s great to see the students’ creativity come to life through this real opportunity.”
Reach and Teach is housed in Kerby’s digital marketing class, the second of two in the school’s marketing program. The main purpose of this class is to provide practical experience and practical experience as a final. Students sell money to support local businesses, promote the excitement of the concert and encourage their classmates to attend.
Concert planning and details are in the hands of the students, from the concert title and singer to logos, ticket prices, social media ads and promotional t-shirts. Students also write their own budget. Sponsorships are sold to local businesses to keep costs down for students, as well as limited VIP tickets that include breakfast and lunch with the band, a t-shirt and front row seats to the concert.
“This program requires skill and public speaking. I have seen my students’ confidence grow throughout the program and it is a very rewarding part to witness,” said Kerby. “We are very fortunate to have a team that supports our students and our schools.”
The concert will start at 2:15 pm on Feb. 1 in the Demopolis High School gymnasium. General admission tickets for students are $15 and VIP tickets for students are $45.
If you would like more information about this concert and/or Reach Out and Teach, please contact April Clark at (256) 710-0100 or email april@rntrocks.com.
You can also check out their website: https://www.reachandteach.rocks/concert-tour.
