A team of Clinton School students recently presented Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) with a library of resources to increase public support and awareness of state-funded programs.
The Clinton School students interviewed key stakeholders associated with priority issue areas identified by Arkansas Advocates, including early childhood education, juvenile justice, out-of-school programs and children’s health. After collecting videos, photos and written stories from these stakeholders, the students organized these resources within secure accounts, easily accessible to Arkansas Advocates staff members.
The presentation included specific recommendations for how officials with Arkansas Advocates can best use these stories when connecting with young professionals, a demographic they hope to further engage. Recommendations for sustaining and expanding the project were also included.
The students completed the project as part of the Clinton School’s Practicum program, one of three for-credit public service projects in the Master of Public Service degree program.
“Over the past two semesters, we’ve been very impressed by the magnitude of support Arkansas Advocates provides to at-risk families,” said Yana-Janell Scott, Clinton School Practicum team member. “Their work has a profound effect on people’s daily lives across the state and this project has given us practical insight into what it means to be a public servant.”
The students collected a total of 109 videos, 96 photos and seven written stories from public service providers and recipients in the four core issue areas. The final video content contains 450 minutes of footage from 35 interviewees. The students traveled 760 miles to eight cities in order to obtain the material.
“We’re really impressed with the work these students have done,” said Brett Kincaid, outreach director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. “We started out with some pretty big ideas for what we ultimately wanted out of this project. To take such a huge task, focus in on some key issues and produce this level of work was not only really helpful to us but a major accomplishment in and of itself.”
This presentation marks the culmination of a yearlong project for Clinton School students Mitchell Adams of Morrilton, Ark., Rebecca Scissors of Ellicott City, Md., Yana-Janell Scott of Little Rock and Sydney Shearer of Nashville, Tenn.
The project is one of 10 completed by 36 Clinton School students across the state of Arkansas.
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