Videographer: Carl Schrónez
Our annual FATE Student Showcase is always the HIGHLIGHT of the year! This year was our fifth showcase and it was just as special as the rest!
Our 9th and 10th graders have been hard at work preparing for this event for the past few months!
- Five 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 25th!
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
- Dexter Sullivan, President, Black Legacy Advancement Coalition
- Tanisha Streeter, Vice President, Merit Park
- Hajj Flemmings, Founder, Modern Athlete & Rebrand Cities
- Nachaela Trice, FATE Alumni & Third Year Student, Aquinas College
After much deliberation, this year’s “People’s Choice Award” (awarded by audience members) was given to D Office for their “Let’s Color the World Together” campaign and the team who was selected by our panel of judges for the BIG WIN was Great Lake Legends who presented their “Legacy: Make Your Mark” campaign!
You can learn more about all five campaigns for the 2023 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 will win the competition and have their collection produced in full and sold on Merit’s website Fall 2023! We will also be selecting the top 5 selling products outside of the winning collection to be produced as well. The competition ends on June 25th so get shopping!!
- All-In All Stars - “Free To Be Bold” Collection
- Money Stackers - “Think The Unthinkable” Collection
- Soulciety - “Unique Souls Creating Diverse Communities” Collection
- Tenacious 10 - “Unlocking Success” Collection
You can learn about all four product collections for the 2023 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 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, Adam Luger, Jeff Martin, Paige Merritt, Stephen Timblin)
- Quikly (Kristy Sharrow, Lindsay Keener, Heidi Artley, Max Gover, Christen Jones, Alison Vandenkieboom)
- Woodward Original (Stevie Ansara & Larissa Hanna)
- Creative Solutions Group
- Graphic Designers - Skyler Holt, Kristle Marshall, Karl Nilsson, and Scott Everett
As well as a big thank you to our event sponsors:
- Creative Circle
- Lambert
- Quikly
- Seva Law Firm
- Mercury Sound & Lighting
- Creative Solutions Group
- Jet’s Pizza
- All Pro
And of course our FATE Mentors & the Give Merit Board, our panel of judges, and all of our incredible volunteers for the day!
Photography By: Allison Farrand
Videography By: Carl Schrónez
