Since the beginning of the semester I have been taking a class where a group of Temple students went into two different high schools in Philly and taught an advertising workshop. To be honest, I took the class as a refresher course since I am graduating in Spring but it turned into so much more than that. I actually built a relationship with some of the students that I hope to continue. One of the students actually told me he wants to go to college now which was one of the main goals, to inspire the students to go onto…

So as of Friday my time with GEP has come to an end. I find that I’m oh so impressed by how much I have learned and how much experience they gave me. When I talk to my friends about credit internships they look at it, as just another 150 hours dedicated to school, but I found that mine was so much more than an advance to graduating. Not only did I gain a ton of experience and networked with so many important people within event planning, but I gained a new family. The employees of GEP gave me the…

September 25, 2012… Our Ad Club Assembly Today was the day… the first day I would introduce myself, the first day I would interact with the students, and most importantly, the first day the students would hopefully open their eyes to the world of advertising. It was 9:00am, and a group of 4 Temple students, including myself, traveled to Kensington CAPA to talk to the kids about joining our after-school advertising club. We walked into a classroom of about 20 kids, all dressed in their high school’s uniform and the seats were aligned in a half circle. Our assigned teacher…

It’s about to be three weeks from the day of the competition and the creation of the viral/commercial/YouTube video is nowhere to be completed. But unlike us the students at Kensington High School are smiling and enjoying the time with us and their classmates. The students seemed to be trying to calm us down and not to worry because of that strong self-confidence they have in themselves. All of these students have so much talent and knowledge of the technology that is surrounding them. You have students that are computer geniuses and can figure out any problem that may shows…

I knew from the moment I walked in the Kensington Capa door that this was going to be an amazing experience. Lesson planning wasn’t always easy with such a big group of teachers, but I think we found some great ways to entertain the students. Snacks definitely got their attention, but I think breaking off into smaller groups allows us to give them enough attention so that they feel involved. I know I used to like that when I was in high school. Small groups always gave me the courage to say what I wanted to say, and I think…

            First and foremost, this community based learning course was successful in reaching every goal we set out to accomplish.  I don’t believe there were any specific set goals, but personally I had three: Create an impressive advertising campaign to present to Philabundance and beat Palumbo—check, build a friendly and “big brother” esque relationship with the students—check, and inspire them to strive for a higher education or something more than a diploma from Kensington CAPA—hopefully check.  There were challenges/obstacles that conflicted with all three of my personal goals.  Student attendance and their willingness to immerse themselves in the project were…

Coming into this community based learning course, I expected to learn a thing or two about the advertising business, but I never realized I would clearly understand the essential elements needed to create an full-scale advertising campaign. I am honestly so thankful that I replied to the email from Professor Dana Saewitz that announced this class, and to any future Temple student even slightly considering taking the course, you should jump at the opportunity as well! Now that I have taught advertising, I not only know so much more about the subject, but I also view the business much differently.…

On Monday December 10th, 2012 we had the pleasure of presenting two and half months of hard work to a room full of important people. When I say we I mean both Temple University students and Kensington CAPA high school students. For the duration of this past semester we have worked together, learned from one another, and grown as people together. This was a once in a lifetime kind of experience and I think every participant came out better for it. I do not have one single regret about the campaign we produced for Philabundance and Shire’s Great Food Fight.…

We’ve been working for almost an entire semester to prepare for this presentation.  We’ve been working closely with Kensington CAPA students for about a month on the commercial, music track, and print ads and I’m still nervous.  The commercial/youtube clip/viral video is alright, but could be better.  The transitions are sloppy and the ending could be neater, but overall I’m happy with it.  I just hope that Philabundance, Shire’s and whoever else is judging our ad will look at it in more of a big picture sense than a final product, use our ads tomorrow, sense. On a more sincere…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k4LzJgIIsU&feature=youtu.be The last week before the competition, Temple students and the students of Kensington decided to meet two times. The last day we got to chill with the students and finish up everything. Before we left the school I had a chance to hang with the music group and I got time to meet Arron the mastermind behind the producing of the track (it’s his own original beat). The time I got to talk to him, I automatically knew he had a great passion for music and producing. One thing that caught my attention was he had an old school…

Our final class was hard for me. It made me realize how much I was going to miss the kids and working on our campaign. We did a lot of work this semester, getting them and the campaign ready, but we did it. Our whole concept still impresses me. We turned Philabundance into an even bigger idea and were able to give it a new meaning. I think working with the non-profit was a good choice. Especially considering it was one that was aimed towards high school students to begin with. They took a lot of away from that last…

Monday, December 10th, marked the end of the Philly Ad club HS workshop. The turn out for the final presentation was greater than expected. The students from both high schools came together to present their final campaigns to Philabundance and they came well prepared. Prior to this experience students knew very little about advertising and they ended it with a strong sense of knowledge about what advertising is and how to put together a campaign. While our time with the students was cut short from hurricane sandy and holidays, each of them worked extra hard to achieve the deadline. Since…