Putting It All Together - The Showcase

The Showcase is an immersive experience, celebrating the participant journey of designing a city. Participants will have prepared and practiced their sales and presentation skills as well as demonstrated their creativity through diverse media. Visitors will be immersed in an experience where they explore which cities they would want to call home. 

In order to prepare for the Showcase, facilitators will guide participants through a series of lessons throughout the project timeline.

Alongside the participant’s preparation, the Showcase itself will also need to be planned and coordinated. Depending on the level of involvement desired for participants, choose from the following options:

OPTION 1: Facilitators Plan and Coordinate Showcase

* Recommended for shortened versions of the project

In this option, facilitators should plan ahead to:

• Reserve a space for the Showcase

• Communicate the date and time of the Showcase to all participants

• Create a layout of where all participants will display their Cities

• Invite the community to participate in the process as guest speakers, judges and providers of feedback, and at the very least, as invited guests to the showcase.

  • School/Program Community: To validate participant’s learning and build campus relationships 

    • Other after-school facilitators, classroom teachers, school administrators, counselors, librarians, campus supervisors, district staff, etc.

  • Participants & Youth Voices: Builds peer inspiration and positions participants as experts.

    • Participants from other schools, community participant leadership groups

  • Families & Caregivers: Increases participant pride and ownership; helps families see the depth of learning beyond homework

    • Parents/guardians, siblings, extended family

  • Community Members & Local Partners: For participants to see how cities are shaped beyond government

    • Local small business owners, community event organizers, cultural centers, city librarians, museum staff, etc.

  • City & Civic Representatives: To make civic systems feel real and accessible

    • City council members or staff, planning & zoning department staff, parks & recreation staff, transportation department reps, sustainability or public works staff

  • Service Workers & City Systems Professionals: To reinforce that cities run because of many essential roles, not just leadership

    • Sanitation and waste management, transit operators, utility workers, firefighters or emergency responders, public safety officers

  • Industry & Career Connections (Optional): Connects the project to future careers and pathways

    • Architects or urban planners, engineers, designers or builders, event planners, entrepreneurs

• Organize timeline of set up, showcase, and clean up and communicate to participants/other facilitators 

• EXTRA! Utilize the connections above to set up a field trip for participants to experience part of how a City functions.

OPTION 2: Facilitators Work with Participants to Plan and Coordinate Showcase

* Recommended for maximizing the involvement and learning of the participants

In this option, facilitators intentionally share planning responsibilities with participants. The level of participant leadership increases by grade band, while facilitators remain responsible for safety, approvals, timelines, and final execution.

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