Today we’d like to introduce you to Jana Berthiaume, Jillian Karns, Katie King, Maggie Leary, and Jessie Berthiaume.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jana, Jillian, Katie, Maggie, and Jessie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The Exhilarate Worcester Music and Arts Festival started with an idea that we thought wouldn’t materialize. We wanted to bring a music and arts festival to Worcester to benefit Woodland Academy. Not only would our festival raise money for a school in a high needs area it would also bring the community together. It wasn’t long after our first few meetings with our sponsoring company, Elevation 3D that we thought our idea had potential. Meetings at Elevation 3D were critical in our fundraising organization because they enlightened us on the business side of our idea.
Exhilarate Worcester is an initiative developed by educators in a collaborative effort to support the academic growth of students at Woodland Academy, a Worcester Public School. In a continued effort to provide opportunities for students, this committee will bring a music and arts festival to Worcester, Massachusetts and all proceeds will go to the school. The event welcomes all who want to participate. There will be musicians, performing alongside local craft and food vendors, yoga, and much more. Dedicated educators organizing the festival are striving to give students access to an immersive, adaptive, and individualized education with the funds raised at the event.
Woodland Academy is a neighborhood school, with 96% of students minority, 100% of students receive free lunch and much-troubled youth that comes from trauma backgrounds. Out of the school’s 635 students, 500 speak English as their second language. The students and faculty at Woodland work hard to promote authentic teaching and learning opportunities. These students are smart, hard-working, and resilient and they deserve a chance of equal opportunity and a chance to compete against children with more fortunate circumstances.
Exhilarate Worcester’s mission is to provide the students of Woodland Academy the tools they need to be college and career ready.
Many family members, friends, Woodland faculty members, and sponsorships have helped us make our fundraising idea become a reality. We are looking forward to our event on September 22nd and are hoping for a huge success!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of the biggest challenges we have had is time. All of our committee members work full-time jobs, so finding time to meet, attend meetings, organize food, art, and craft vendors, and advertising has been very difficult. Somehow, we always manage to get everything was done that needs to get done. Another struggle we have faced has been that all of us are novice fundraisers and festival organizers. Learning the ins and outs of things such as pulling permits, negotiating the best prices for things such as sound systems, porter potties, and insurance were all a learning curve.
Please tell us about Exhilarate Worcester Music and Arts Festival.
We are educators that aim to bring the community together for a day of music, food, art, yoga, and craft beer all to raise money for a high needs school in Worcester, Woodland Academy. We are most proud of the community that we are apart of because many people have come together to offer helping hands. This festival would not have happened without the help of loving family, friends, and local community members.
Pricing:
- Tickets to our event are $20 plus Eventbrite fees
- Day of Event tickets are $25
Contact Info:
- Website: www.exhilarateworcester.com
- Email: exhilarateworcester@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exhilarateworcester/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/237123026854124/
- Other: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/exhilarate-worcester-music-arts-festival-tickets-46762929180
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