Communication Emphasis: Organizational Leadership
“Strategic planning is worthless – unless there is first a strategic vision.”
john naisbitt
Project Summary & Details
Celebrate Youth has been an exciting traditional event for over 20 years. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to assist Madison School District’s Director of Communication, Macail Chavez, in many stages of preparation for this wonderful community celebration as my Senior Project. More specifically, I aided in sponsor communication, created promotional designs, and developed a strategic event guidebook.
Celebrate Youth is one of the best FREE events open to all community members, but it is specifically for students, teachers, and families who are part of the Madison School District. Based on recent years, an estimated 10,000 people have attended the event. It has become an unforgettable tradition to celebrate the end of a great summer and the beginning of a new, exciting school year! The Celebrate Youth event is held at the end of summer, right before school starts again. It is hosted by the Madison School District and takes place at Porter Park in Rexburg, Idaho. Typically, the event happens in mid-to-late August (often around August 19 or 20) and runs from 2 to 7 PM.
In April, I received a list of sponsors from previous years, which I used to call and contact the managers of businesses to ensure they received the invitation to sponsor the 2025 Celebrate Youth event, along with the updated registration link. I recorded their responses in a shared Google Sheet with Macail. When contacting the businesses, I made sure to communicate the registration deadline, which was July 15th.
In May, I worked on drafting the design for Celebrate Youth flyers for social media posts, A-frame posters, and banners that would be printed and put up around town about two weeks before the event in August. I made sure the design was simple, fun, and inviting. It needed to be easy to read for people passing by on the roads, so keeping it eye-catching and straightforward was important.
In June, I completed gathering information for a detailed timeline of tasks to prepare and plan leading up to the event. The Celebrate Youth Event Guidebook was created for Madison Cares planners to use in future years. When Macail Chavez was hired as the MSD Director of Communication, she expressed to me that the planning of the event was kind of thrown on her, and she didn’t have much direction, leaving her to figure things out on her own. The guidebook I created is meant to ensure that if one of her future interns or coworkers has questions about how to plan this event—or if, by some chance, she is unable to plan it herself—someone could refer to the guidebook and feel confident about how to prepare for it.
It’s important to note that I created the guidebook using Adobe InDesign because I wanted to showcase the design skills I’ve gained from my previous classes. Using Adobe InDesign is much more time-consuming than using a Canva template, so this was a growing experience, but I am glad I could grow my skills in Adobe even more. I made sure to use the corresponding Madison School District colors since they would be the ones utilizing the guidebook.
Reflection: Challenges and Triumphs
One challenge I experienced during this project was gathering information from Macail (Madison’s Director of Communication), since we both had very busy schedules. Coordinating our calendars was simple at first, but when I started my internship with another organization, it became harder. I would meet with her at her office to get the information needed, and that’s also where I contacted the business sponsors. When our schedules didn’t match up as well, I would text her for any further communication, which worked out great!
One change I would make to the project would be adding a section in the guidebook that outlines a very detailed agenda for the day of the Celebrate Youth event. This would work well with the timeline I created for the preparation leading up to the event.
A triumph I had was the opportunity to communicate with real sponsors and vendors. I felt more motivated knowing that my work would positively impact the Celebrate Youth event, not just this year, but in future years as well. I’m proud that I was able to put my communication skills into action with my senior project!
Guidebook & Promotional Material Designs
Senior Showcase Photos
