We usually don’t have much opportunity to interface with primary/secondary education orgs (save our support to Savannah Science Seminar, Savannah Robotics and some work Leigh has done with Windsor Forest), so when this arrived in my inbox I thought it was pretty intriguing.

It seems that Savannah Arts Academy (SAA) is gunning for Industry cred with its interactive media program. Or in their words, “The Interactive Media Pathway (which is part of the Communication Arts department) is going through Industry Certification this year.”

According to SAA’s release, Industry Certification is a “stamp of excellence,” which represents the apex of program quality.  Only those programs that have successfully undergone rigorous reviews by leaders from business and industry are recognized with this distinction. 

For its part, the State Department of Education is committed to the industry certification process as a part of its effort to strengthen technical and academic standards for all Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) programs.
 
One of the things SAA has to do is gather information from local businesses about the types of entry level jobs available and the skills students need to enter into those jobs. 

The 2010 Savannah Book Festival, a celebration of the written word and its role in improving the human experience, welcomes more than 40 nationally-known and local bestselling authors to Telfair Square, February 5-7, 2010.

The Festival kicks off Friday, February 5th, with a Keynote Speech by Vince Flynn, New York Times best-selling author of the Mitch Rapp novel series. Flynn will talk about counter-terrorism in the new century.

On Saturday, February 6th, authors will make hourly presentations and sign books in and around Telfair Square from 10 am to 5 pm. Featuring six main venues, the Festival welcomes authors in the following categories: Fiction; History & Biography; Contemporary Issues; Lifestyle; Poetry; and Free Speech. Some of our renowned 2010 authors include: Reza Aslan, Bertice Berry, Douglas Blackmon, Roy Blount, Rick Bragg, George Dawes Green, Lauretta Hannon, Mary Alice Monroe, James Navé, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton. All authors will discuss their books and life in letters in the beautiful settings of Trinity Church, Telfair Academy and Jepson Center for the Arts.

AWOL’s theater program, known as Act Up, will celebrate its fifth year with its annual production, titled Choices: The Romeo and Juliet Story – a modern adaption of the great tragedy themed play by William Shakespeare. The show will be presented February 4-6, 2010 at the Lucas Theater. There will be one daytime show – on Feb. 4 at 10am – presented to students of schools from around the region, and two nighttime shows – on Feb. 5-6 at 8pm – open to the general public.

The cost of the evening shows will be $5 for kids under age 5 and $20 for adults. The daytime shows, which will be open to schools only (advance reservations are required), will be $3 per student.

This years show not only focuses on Shakespeare, which is a part of the Georgia Education Standards, it also has an overarching goal of attempting to encourage youth to make better “Choices” in life through the various themes of Shakespeare’s written work such as love, family values, and consequences. The themes running through the play will address the issues and
consequences spawned by the choices made by the two immature lovers, teaching young people that blind passion, hatred and prejudice
between these two families leads to unhappiness death. This complements AWOL’s mission of violence prevention and positive youth development.

First, a little history

Thirteen years ago, the networking and advocacy organization called the Coastal Business, Education and Technology Alliance (CBETA) was founded. Six years ago, the effort to brand this region as the “Creative Coast” began as The Creative Coast Initiative (TCCi) and two years ago the two were merged to form The Creative Coast Alliance (TCCa).

For the past 18 months, the organization’s mission has been to help create, grow and attract higher wage jobs and knowledge-based businesses, further developing a creative and innovation-driven economy in and around Savannah/Chatham County. With ongoing support by the City of Savannah, Chatham County and the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA), TCCa has brought together the purposes, processes, programs and people of the two previous organizations and made some meaningful progress in the achievement of our mission at the same time.

We developed and implemented strategies for attraction focused on digital media and design that have generated dozens of leads and at least 20 qualified business relocation or expansion projects. We have participated in the announcements of seven new businesses and helped more than 200 local businesses and entrepreneurs get started, stay afloat or grow, along with a host of other things like the Innovation Awards that support the development of an environment that encourages and expands these results. (See our July 08- July 09 12-Month Report for more information.)