Project Success-Students Undertaking Creative Control

“Line 11a explanation - the 990 is signed and reviewed by the executive director and approved in their monthly meeting”

“The conflict of interest policy is reviewed annually and any conflicts are brought to the appropriate personnel or board member's attention”

“As a part of a comprehensive performance management program, project success has implemented a formal compensation review process for key employees including the executive director. The process is managed by the chair of the board and the chair of the governance committee with assistance of a third-party hr consultant: 1. Comparable salary from similarily situated organizations for functionally like roles is obtained and relied upon to determine an appropriate range of pay. 2. The compensation recommendation is reviewed and approved by the full board of directors and appropriately documented in the minutes including: a. The decision and the date it was approved b. The members of the board who were present for the debate and the votes cast by those who voted on it c. The comparability data obtained and relied upon (and documentation about why and deviation from the data's ranges were approved), and d. Documentation the approval occured without the participation of any board members who had a conflict of interest”

“The conflict of interest policy is reviewed annually and any conflicts are brought to the appropriate personnel or board member's attention”

“Project success believes the key to success exists within each student if empowered to unlock it. Mission & vision: project success motivates and inspires young people to dream about the future, helps them take steps to get there and gives them the tools they need to achieve their goals. Our vision is that every child entering middle school will graduate high school with a plan for their future and have the skills and confidence that will take them through the rest of their lives. Impact: since 1994, project success (ps) has empowered 200,000+ students to discover their potential. Spanning 6th to 12th grade, our staff guides students through a curriculum of activities, designed to facilitate their growth and development over time and prepare for life after high school. Curriculum: through project success, students experience a proven curriculum to help them prepare for their futures. Clear social and emotional learning and future planning objectives are built into the curriculum, incorporated into all ps activities listed below. Curriculum objectives are grade-specific and cumulative (6-12 grade). It includes lessons - or "workshops" delivered by our professional and diverse staff called "facilitators" through activities that occur both in- and outside the classroom, and includes activities in four key areas: in-class monthly workshops - delivered in english, english learner or special ed classes, students have time and support to plan for their futures. Arts - professional theater experiences, residencies and student musicals are powerful ways to inspire expression, connection, and discussion. Expeditions -- college and career tours, outdoor adventures, and global exploration inspire growth, discovery, and possibilities. Institute - after-school certificate courses help students explore career paths and build portable skills. Innovative approach: project success is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of young people through "dig or dream, ignite grow -- our exclusive methodology for program delivery. Ps has developed an innovative, culturally responsive experience learning model that is proven to help students build the agency, integrated identity and competencies needed to increase their academic engagement and develop important skills research* has shown to be essential in successfully navigating life and career after high school. Some of the defining aspects of dig include: 1. Developmental relationships: students build trusting relationships over time with our facilitators and other program staff who are highly trained in culturally responsive teaching, ensuring that we acknowledge and value the cultural backgrounds, identities, and ancestral knowledge of each student. Students and ps alumni have shared that ps staff support has helped them feel more confident, explore opportunities outside of their "comfort zone," understand and practice how to create and act on a plan to achieve goals, and persist in achieving their goals. 2. Large-scale partnerships: our strong school and district partnerships allow us to work with each 6-12 grade student attending minneapolis public schools (mps), totaling more than 15,000 students. Ps is the only mps community partner given class time on a regular monthly basis with each student in every english, special education, and english learner classroom. Facilitating this large-scale operation requires meticulous operational systems, a facet we have diligently developed and honed. These systems underpin our ability to effectively deliver personalized support while maintaining the scope and impact that come with serving a diverse student population. 3. Radical access: while other programs do exist, barriers to access them -- trust, time, transportation, childcare, meals, language, cost, selection criteria, relevancy and learning differences -- have made it more challenging for students to participate. We believe deeply in the power of dismantling barriers that hold inequities in place -- per”

“In-class workshops: the foundation of our curricular model is our in-class goal-setting workshop. Through workshops, project success serves the entire student body in every partner school, rather than a small slice of the population. Facilitators lead monthly goal-setting workshops in every english/language arts, special education (sped) and english learner (el) classroom for each student (there are no selection criteria). They provide time and space for facilitated discussion and exploration to help students discover who they are and what they want out of life so they can build the connection between academic persistence now and success in meeting their goals in the future. Each ps facilitator regularly trains in culturally responsive teaching, ensuring that we acknowledge and value the cultural backgrounds, identities, and ancestral knowledge that each student and their family brings to our community. Through ps, student voice and power are elevated, and our teaching strategies are proven to teachers, improving classroom climate. Students deepen their relationships and feel seen, valued, and heard. Through the trust we build with students, we hear from them every day about their needs, goals, and dreams. We are the only program that comes to every english, sped and el classroom, every month for each 6-12 grade student in mps. Throughout all grades, our classroom workshops are regularly adapted to meet the unique needs of the classroom, a group of students, and individual and cultural learning styles, and are continuously evaluated for quality and effectiveness. During the 2022-23 school year, ps delivered monthly workshops to students in mps in-person and virtual classrooms - more than 4,000 workshops during the school year. Teachers shared that ps workshops classrooms were a boost in student engagement and allowed teachers to see students in news ways.”

“Arts - professional theater experiences for students and families: research has shown impressive benefits of arts education on entire school culture - especially student motivation, attitudes, and attendance. Numerous reports discuss the ways that increased access and involvement in the arts encourage students to stay in school, and succeed in school, work and life. Unfortunately, in minnesota, there is a "donut effect" to the access of arts education offerings where inner city schools and rural schools report less access, and schools in the suburban ring tend to report offering better access. This "donut" disproportionately affects students and families of color, indigenous students and families, or low-income families. Project success thoughtfully selects productions with our 50+ theater partners, matching show content to the curriculum in our workshops. We emphasize the cultural relevance of the production to ensure that students see themselves reflected on stage. Ps program staff coordinate production selection, obtaining tickets at no cost through theater partners, sending invitations to each student (offered in 4 languages), providing online guides, taking reservations, contacting families in their own languages, offering transportation and child-care and more. All students ps serves and their families are invited to attend at least 80 professional arts experiences throughout the year. Our theater experiences and theater field trips (during the school day) are managed by our program manager for theater experiences, who manages each professional theater partner relationship, coordinates offerings with partner teachers, and works with a team to facilitate the student/family experience. The team includes program coordinators, and a theater curriculum associate who researches each production, builds curriculum and online guides, and works with workshop and other program staff to invite and prepare students for each experience. Project success' classroom workshop themes are tied into the plays to which the students are invited. These discussions and events enable project success staff to continue to adjust the theater experiences and classroom workshops to the needs and interests of the participants and allow our teacher partners to capitalize on engaging experiences that help students connect with their academic work. Through project success, students and their families - many of whom would not otherwise have the means to experience the twin cities' vibrant arts community - attend diverse theater performances together, enriching their shared family and school community experiences and increasing opportunities for bonding interactions, which can lead to more positive family and school relationships and greater home/peer support for youth - shown to have a positive impact on student achievement. During the 2022-23 school year, project success provided the opportunity for more than 7,000 students and family members to attend live performances through ps handpicked theater opportunities throughout the year. More than 4,000 students participated in field trips to professional theater performances during the school day and 400 students engaged in our theater residency program - where we facilitate connection and curriculum between our partner theaters with our students and teachers in meaningful ways. School musicals: middle school is a critical time for students to build their confidence and belief in their ability to succeed, and bolster their sense of belonging. Schools are experiencing dwindling resources allocated for providing quality arts programming for students, which has shown to improve student confidence and achievement. Project success offers students opportunities to participate in an annual school musical, which helps students build the perseverance, confidence and skills that are needed to put on a high-quality production, experience success, and develop peer and community support. Project success coordinates the e”

“Expeditions - college and career tours: using our proven curriculum, we design our college tours to empower students think critically about their post-secondary education options, open new doors for their future, and create actionable plans to achieve their dreams. Our college and career tours ignite new career possibilities for students as they explore their future options and connect with real life professionals to deepen their understanding of various career fields and the education and training needed to pursue them. Ps organizes and hosts state and national tours to an average of 20 colleges campuses annually, including a wide diversity of colleges (4 year, 2 year, hbcu, tribal, trade- specific), our curriculum includes an intentional look at not just the post-secondary education institution, but also allow time and space for students to think critically about what the surrounding neighborhood offers its community - to see beyond the academics. We offer in-state tours at no charge and scholarships are offered to students who do not have the means to pay for the cost of out-of-state tours. Offered on non-school days, transportation, food, and materials are provided. Ps also offers college tours as school-day field trips in partnership with mps high school teachers. Project success college and career tours visited both colleges and a variety of workplaces to explore careers in healthcare, entrepreneurship, cosmetology, performing arts and culinary arts. Hands-on, behind-the-scenes tours of professional workplaces allows students to imagine themselves in that space. This programming connects our programs through the project success institute (see line 4d) and our college tours to deepen the impact of our diverse programs for students. During the 2022-23 school year, more than 400 students participated in more than 16 ps in-person college and career tours to a variety of campuses. In addition to the in-person tours, ps provided a pre-recorded admissions and workplace chats library on our website, available at any time as well as our college conversations podcast, which includes more than 32 interviews with mps students and alumni, and experts on college-related topics designed to inform students' decision-making process. Ps also hosted in-person and virtual workshops over spring break, covering topics on how to finance post-secondary education, thrive academically, and connect with others to build community. Analysis of project success participation data by the minneapolis public schools department of research, evaluation and assessment shows that: 67% of all students who attend project success college tours are more likely to graduate on time than students who do not participate. High school students who participate in at least one project success college tour show an increase of 2% in graduation rates across all populations. African-american and latino students who participate in a college tour show a 5% average increase in grade point average (gpa), or 21% after 4 years, greater than those that did not participate. Expeditions - outdoor and wilderness adventures: each school year, project success offers outdoor and stem experience learning opportunities aimed to introduce our students to the nature in their own "backyards", build supportive peer and adult relationships and sense of belonging, and see themselves in stem-related career fields. For example, river and outdoor adventure field trip days are designed to help sixth grade students transition successfully into middle school. Family outdoor adventure days are designed to inspire students and their families to get to know the vast urban park system in the twin cities and learn more ways to interact with nature. Finally, science fusion in partnership with the science museum of minnesota invites students and their families to learn more about the diverse people working in the sciences. Each summer, project success keeps inspiring students by offering a very special annu”

“Project success institute: the institute was built on the reality that for today's students to stay in school and prepare for post-secondary success, more resources and support is needed-especially low-income students and students of color which make up 65% of the minneapolis public schools student population. Students need to explore career opportunities, to develop hard competencies, life and soft skills, visit colleges and workplaces first-hand to for research and selection, and integrate all these elements into a practical plan as they make post-secondary plans. Students are facing fewer career-planning and independent learning opportunities due to declining funding and access to guidance counselors and courses like financial literacy - in fact, minnesota's student-to-counselor ration ranks 48th in the nation. In september 2018 - after a year of pilot testing - project success launched new programs at the project success institute, offering minneapolis high school students workshops and 10-week courses to earn certificates in various focus areas. Students spend 2 hours/week over a 10-week course learning portable skills, knowledge and confidence for life and various careers after high school. Ps offers three trimesters of free courses for up to 300 students per year. Current course offerings include coding, cooking or baking, money management and bike tech by project success, and entrepreneurship by girls with impact, offered virtually and hosted by ps. All ps courses occur at the institute located at ps headquarters. Courses are led by professional instructors, with support from volunteer mentors. Free shuttle transportation is provided for all students, and additional 1:1 support is available for any student. Students complete the program with a broader sense of the occupations and lifestyles available to them, and skills needed to succeed in post-secondary education and the workplace. Several aspects of the institute distinguish it from other programs. First, programming happens outside of school time when school-based college and career centers are closed. Second, because project success is so strongly embedded in the schools, we are aware of needs and possibilities that can have an immediate impact. And third, while other programs are available in our community, students have shared that barriers to access the programs - including time, transportation, cost and relevancy - have made it more challenging for them to participate. Because of our long-term, trusting relationship with students and their families, our proven methodology in experience learning, and our expertise in providing programs at a large scale successfully addressing both access and equity, our students are more likely to participate. They have told us as much. During the 2022-23 school year, 178 high school students developed skills, knowledge, and career- and life-readiness through earning certificates in coding, cooking, money management, entrepreneurship, and bike tech. Students from every mps high school participated. For the first time, some cooking classes were taught by local and national celebrity chefs and ps partnered with girls with impact to offer their harvard-designed online class which encouraged 28 students to learn how to turn their passion into entrepreneurship, culminating in a mini-mba.”