Videography By: Eli Sider
Our annual FATE Student Showcase is always the HIGHLIGHT of the year! This year was our sixth showcase and we continued to be blown away by how impressive our FATE students are! We also had a new venue this year and want to give a special thank you to The Riverside for hosting our event!
Our 9th and 10th graders have been hard at work preparing for this event for the past few months!
Six teams of 9th graders pitched marketing/advertising campaigns for Merit and a winner was declared on the spot.
Four teams of 10th graders had their Merit product collections on display for pre-sale by showcase attendees as well as online at www.meritgoodness.com until June 23rd!
Our 9th graders came to impress as they presented their marketing and advertising campaigns for Merit which included a 60-second commercial and print ad. These presentations were delivered in front of a panel of judges and an audience of family members, mentors, program partners, and donors!
This year’s judges included:
- Dr. D’Wayne Edwards: Founder, Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design
- Shy’Niya Eddins: FATE Alumni & 2019 Grade 9 Project Winner
- Phil Pirkovic: Director of Brand and Partnerships, Shinola
- Jesse Hayes: Owner, Skinphorea Facial Bar & Acne Clinic & Give Merit Board Member
- Akil Alvin: CEO & Global Chief Creative Officer, Digital Detroit Media
- Hajj Flemmings: Founder, Modern Athlete & Rebrand Cities
God’s Greatest Destiny (GGD) who presented their
“Motivate Your Meaning” campaign!
You can learn more about all six campaigns for the 2024 Grade 9 Capstone Project here.
Our 10th graders designed a Merit product collection and attendees of the Student Showcase had the opportunity to walk around each team’s trade show booth display and pre-order the product they liked the most! With combined pre-sales from the Student Showcase and online at www.meritgoodness.com, the team with the most pre-sales is crowned the winner and their collection will be produced in full and sold on Merit’s website Fall 2024! This year’s teams included:
- The Talents - “Nostalgic Moments” Collection (Graphic Designer: Scott Everett)
- Meritverse - “Brilliant Influence” Collection (Graphic Designer: Jonathan Brooks)
- The Winners - “Winning Out Of This World” Collection (Graphic Designer: Scott Everett)
- Kids Next Door - “Wear Your Confidence” (Graphic Designer: Jonathan Brooks)
Pre-sales have officially ended and the winning 10th grade team is…
The Talents with their “Nostalgic Moments” collection!
You can shop the entire “Nostalgic Moments” collection here:
- The Places We’ll Go Hoodie- Motor City Wheels Sweatpants
- Future Calls Long Sleeve Tee
- Now Playing Tee
- You’re In Charge Tee
In addition to the winning collection being produced in full and sold on Merit’s website, we have selected the top 5 selling products from the other collections that will be available as well. Our top 5 products this year included:
The Winners: Winning Out Of This World
- “No Limits Sweater”- “Leave Your Mark Hoodie”
- “FATE Logo Beanie”
Kids Next Door: Wear Your Confidence
- “Confidence All Over Hoodie”
Meritverse: Brilliant Influence
- “Wishing on a Shooting Star Tee”
You can learn more about all four product collections for the 2024 Grade 10 Capstone Project here.
It was an incredible night dedicated to celebrating the hard work and talent of our students and we couldn’t be more proud of them! Thank you to everyone who came out to the Student Showcase to support our students!
We want to give a special thank you to our creatives who helped bring these capstone projects to life:
- Creative Circle & the Creative Team (Allison Farrand, Jeff Martin, Paige Merritt, Eli Sider, and Stephen Timblin)- Quikly (Kristy Sharrow)
- Woodward Original (Stevie Ansara)
- KM Creative (Kate Bacheller and Mike Hunter)
- Tierra Kelly
- Creative Solutions Group
- Graphic Designers - Scott Everett and Jonathan Brooks
As well as a big thank you to our event sponsors:
- Creative Circle
- Quikly
- Creative Solutions Group
- Jet’s Pizza
And of course our FATE Mentors & the Give Merit Board, our panel of judges, and all of our incredible volunteers for the day!
