2003 Fall draft - Uwpiaa.org

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A Week in the Life Day In and Day Out with the WorldSmart Students by Sheila Walsh Dettloff, 84D, Communications Chair, UWPIAA BOG We’ve all heard about the WorldSmart program by now. We know it focuses on building global leadership skills using six elements: international travel, an internationally diverse student body, regional learning opportunities, community service, host family living, and the proprietary WorldSmart leadership curriculum. But just what will the 120 students do from day to day? What will a typical week be like for them? Here’s the answer. Day 1: Travel Day – We all know what that means! Whether on a plane, bus, train or car, one day will be spent getting to the next city on the agenda. Bus head and all. Day 2: Curriculum Day – This will be completely internally focused, with no community interaction. It will be dedicated to the WorldSmart curriculum, whether through staff lectures, demonstrations, visiting professors or individual learning. Days 3 and 4: Community Connections Days – These days could involve either the community coming to the WorldSmart students, the WorldSmart students going out to the community, or a combination of the two. For example, local high school students might come in on Day 3 and brainstorm with WorldSmart students on the specific needs of their community. Day 4 would see both the local and WorldSmart students going out into the community to fulfill at least one of the needs that was discussed. It’s much like the former community involvement days, but in most cases, with more interaction with people in the city. Day 5: Regional Learning/Community Celebration Day – A large part of the day would be used to maximize learning about the area, visiting local sites of historical or other interest. In the afternoon, the students would come back together for a rehearsal, followed by the Community Celebration (see sidebar for more specifics on the Community Celebration). Day 6: Personal Day – Students might use this day for documentation of their experiences, to visit more local places that weren’t visited 4 Fall ‘03 on the regional learning day, or perhaps just to sleep in. (And we all know which of those will be the most popular!) Day 7: Host Family Day – This is a day for the host families to plan activities individually or in groups with their students. They will be advised of what the students have already done to help them plan a day that could be fun, relaxing, educational, or a combination of all three. What’s striking about this schedule is that, aside from the curriculum day, it looks curiously like the schedule whenever an UWP cast visited a city for a four- to five-day stay. When we weren’t on a mad travel-show-travel-show-travel-show schedule, we had the time to get to know our host families better, to do some community service, plan an education day, and maybe even have a personal day (which, if we were lucky, was in a city with a beach!). When the UWP board of directors was developing the WorldSmart Leadership Program, they relied heavily on alumni input from three sources: the post-December 2000 alumni planning groups in Denver and Ireland; the proposals from alumni that were organized by Brenda Moran (77C), former president of the UWPIAA; and the alumni who sat on the UWP board. One point that was made time and again was that alumni would have liked city stays to be longer, and that suggestion is evident in the WorldSmart plan. And just where will WorldSmart spend these weeks? The first group will start off in Colorado and British Columbia, then move on to Japan. After six weeks in Japan, they’ll travel to Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland before finishing the semester in Italy. Applications are now being accepted for both the August 2004 and February 2005 programs. 120 students will be accepted for each semester. If you know someone who could both benefit from and contribute to the types of activities noted in the schedule above, please direct them to www.upwithpeople.org. B UP EAT Come “Home” to Tucson! UWPIAA Reunion 2004, “Coming Home,” will be held in Tucson, Arizona, from July 15-18, 2004, at the Hilton El Conquistador. El Conquistador is a premium resort that is offering incredibly low rates for UWPIAA reunion attendees. Along with championship golf courses and tennis courts, there are four pools, hot tubs, hiking trails, horseback riding, a fitness center, shopping, restaurants and more — all within the resort grounds. Casts from 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2000 are invited to celebrate their reunions, while all alumni, family and friends are welcome to come and join the fun! Be sure your cast rep has your contact information so you receive all the upcoming reunion details. You can also check the uwpiaa.org web site for frequent updates. Music in WorldSmart – the Community Celebration Simply put, show revenues can no longer carry UWP financially. To continue to produce a Broadway-style show in today’s entertainment market would have meant serious increases in tuition in order for UWP to just break even (up to US$27,000 for 2001 students, had UWP not closed its doors). But music is key to the UWP experience, and it will be one element that distinguishes WorldSmartfrom other studyabroad programs. Music will continue to be used as a unique medium to impact the communities visited by WorldSmart. So how exactly will music be used in this new program? Essentially, UWP is going back to its roots of student-led creativity. In a production known as the Community Celebration, students will offer a meaningful exchange of memories and moments that will recap the week to that point. Both students and community members will participate, and music will be combined with other elements, such as video presentation of the community activities. The students themselves will be empowered to produce and execute each event using a Hilton El Conquistador, Tucson, Arizona “production box,” an idea created by Ken Ashby, of creative tools, UWP songs and program templates. Possible elements of the Community Celebration are: relevant songs from the UWP catalog, a community-specific script, rewritten lyrics of traditional songs tailored to community highlights, and student and community cultural presentations. To give you a better idea of what the Community Celebration might look like, here’s a sample rundown: • Opening song, such as World in Motion • Welcome in local language • Recognition of guests and special groups • Presentation by a local group • Image/video presentation • Relevant UWP song • Community impact presentation • Community-dedicated song written by WorldSmart students • Relevant UWP song • Image presentation • Final song, including world flags
UP BEAT Reunion! Reunion! reunion! reunion! PRESIDENT’S LUNCHEON Immediately after the Opening Session on Friday, everyone crossed the hall to the Grand Ballroom for the President’s Luncheon. As the house lights dimmed and the stage lights came up, the Boston cast performed “We Are Many, We Are One,” the theme of Reunion 2003, then swung right into Festa Humana from “The Festival.” At the luncheon, the J. Blanton Belk Outstanding Alumna award was presented to Marcia Tweed Klecker (73A), who was accompanied to the stage by her daughter, Mara. (See overview of award winners on page 9.) New UWPIAA President Stu Shepherd (78E) and Immediate Past President Bill Becker (87A) welcomed the special guests attending Reunion and continued by recognizing all the past presidents of the UWPIAA, six of whom were in attendance: Brenda Moran (77C), Larry Swenson (78D), Paul Woidke (69B/C), Lindsey Johnson Suddarth (78D), Maris Segal Goodis (80C) and Bill Becker. Bill then took the podium to honor three people very special to UWP and key in maintaining the integrity of the organization throughout its closure in December 2000 and into 2001. Unbeknown to Paul Woidke and Martha and Jerry Jarrett, they were to receive rare Founders Awards, given only to those whose service to the UWPIAA and UWP stands light-years above the rest. Bill said of Paul Woidke, “From his roles in the UWPIAA culminating with his service as president, to his leadership of the UWP Board of Directors from July of 2001 to September of 2002 and continued service to the Board today, Paul has shown tenacity, energy, grace and pragmatic idealism in all that he has touched. He participated in both the difficult decisions of 2000, as well as the exciting and evolving decisions that will breathe life into a new student program next year. Through it all, Paul has been there representing alumni.” Going on to honor the Jarretts, Bill said, “These next two people are some of the finest individuals that any organization has ever had working on their behalf. They are real parents, host parents, sponsors, members of the Board of J. Blanton Belk Outstanding Alumna Marcia Tweed Klecker with her proud daughter, Mara. “Their gift was never small They gave it to us all Way, way beyond the call To the end they did what no one else would do We could always count on Martha and Jerry..... to see it through” – Ken Ashby, 2003 Bill Becker greets Paul Woidke after presenting him the Founder’s Award. Ken Ashby shares the thoughts and feelings of alumni everywhere with Jerry and Martha Jarrett. Directors, and selfless believers in all that is good and valuable about the UWP spirit. Jerry and Martha, in ways that we never know and could only imagine, your service to UWP and to the UWPIAA has been distinguished and with the kindest and most giving manner. Your service to the UWP Board since 1979 included personal sacrifice and generosity, forming coalitions of sponsors and supporters worldwide. Your belief that UWP is still as relevant in the year 2003 as it was in 1979 never faded, and you were right!” Bill proceeded to confer honorary alumni status upon the Jarretts, and Ken Ashby presented a song he wrote especially for them, “Thank You Martha and Jerry.” The reverent mood continued as the lights went down and names began to scroll across a screen at the back of the stage – names of alumni who are no longer with us, but who live on in spirit. The program switched gears again as Stu Shepherd took the podium as the keynote speaker. Stu shared his enthusiasm for leading the UWPIAA over the next two years, and also provided some comic relief with his description of life in North Platte, Nebraska. Never again will we be able to watch a flock of migrating geese without Stu’s assessment of North Platte’s goose-hunting season – “if it flies, it dies” – ringing in our ears! The luncheon closed with more performances by the Boston cast, ending with “We’ll Be There,” including a full presentation of national flags, and two versions of “Up with People” to represent the “older” and “younger” alumni in attendance. The Reunion Cast performs “ Festa Humana!” Reunion! Reunion! reunion! reunion! UpBeat 5
Page 1 and 2: Inside UP BEAT UP BEAT News & Views
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2003 Fall draft - Uwpiaa.org

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