2022-23 Chattanooga As Text Program Concludes

On Friday, the 2023 Chattanooga as Text (CAT) program concluded with a luncheon and team pitch competition. CAT is a three-week long interdisciplinary social entrepreneurship and placemaking course that helps girls acquire the tools to better “read” their community. 

What that means in a more practical way is that placemaking is a way of connecting people to their communities and helping imagine how everyone in those communities can work together to make them better. An experiential curriculum helps participants learn more about their community. This year’s theme was “Sustainability for All.”

Students across the community apply and participate in CAT for free and earn a full class credit from Girls Preparatory School. This program was developed with grant money that provides each participant with a complimentary iPad to use throughout the course and take home at the conclusion of the three weeks.

This year’s program teachers, Claudia Rodriguez Mandujano, and Dr. Jeannie Long created a packed itinerary designed for education. During the first two weeks of the program, students learned about data collection—everything from interviewing to primary and secondary research and video guidance—and visited with community leaders from a variety of organizations in town including River City Company, La Paz, and The Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI), and even met with Mayor Tim Kelly in a visit to City Hall. They also heard from a panel on sustainability with representatives from Reflection Riding, Crabtree Farms, NewTerra Compost, GreenSpaces, Waterways, and the City of Chattanooga’s Office of Sustainability. To conclude week two, they ventured to Sweetwater State Park near downtown Atlanta where they stayed in yurts. Dr. Andrea Becksvoort, CAT coordinator, said about the program, “We introduce students to concepts and tools that we hope they’ll use as they become more active members of their community.”

The final week was all about developing their group projects and preparing their pitches. In front of friends, family, and other community members, teams showed videos and fielded questions about projects they had designed to improve the sustainability of Chattanooga. At stake? A $1,000 grant for the winners to bring the project to life!

With panel members Akosua Cook, Parks Planner, Department of Parks and Outdoors, City of Chattanooga; Mark McKnight, President and CEO, Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center; Marcus Ellsworth, Program Manager, River City Company; Teal Thibaud, CEO, Little Things Lab; and Sarah W Robbins, Principal Planner, Department of Planning, City of Chattanooga on hand, attendees heard from the following teams:

Pitch: Plant native species gardens in two areas of town and paint murals to beautify the community 

 

Pitch: Bring people back to Lincoln Park with a community event that celebrates its rich history

 

Pitch: Introduce a community produce garden at Lincoln Park that gives back to the community

 

Pitch: Get middle and high school students out in nature by providing complimentary bike rentals and bike riding lessons as well as hiking opportunities

For each pitch, teams were required to define a problem, do their own research, provide a solution, showcase how they would budget the $1,000, and provide a tentative timeline for implementation within one year. After hearing from each team and deliberating, the judges awarded first place to Team Hike N Bike, noting how impressed they were with their research, target market, goal, and forethought. 

For Dr. Becksvoort, CAT has been a true passion project. She shared, “We love this program because it is such a unique opportunity for students to learn more about Chattanooga, to meet new people, to make exciting connections, to push their thinking in new directions, and to make a difference in their community.”