2018 RISE Kite Festival

After 7 months of planning and preparation, children and families SOARED at the RISE Kite Festival on May 20, 2018 at Anastasia State Park.

The Festival’s *mission (below) was realized when:

• Approximately 3000 children, ages 5–12, in Title 1 Elementary and Middle Schools received kite kits, explored the ideals of tolerance, compassion, and citizenship in their art, guidance, science, and mathematics classes. These ideals were represented on the kites created by the students at these schools. The participating schools also received 4 kiting books for their media centers, parking passes for Anastasia State Park for the day of the event, and resources for teaching tolerance.
• Children created kites, representing these same ideals, at a kite-making workshop held at tag! Children’s Museum on May 9, 20018.
• Approximately 150 participants and volunteers soared on a cloudy, drizzly Sunday that was also cool and windy. The Orlando Kite Club provided a dazzling display of giant and stunt kites. A wonderful day was had by all!
• Beach going children and families from our community and others joined the Festival and made and flew their own kites at the Festival.

*Mission — Rise Kite Festival, an American Kiting Association sanctioned event, will provide opportunities for the children of St. Johns County to explore, represent, and commit to the Character Counts 6 Pillars of Character and the ideals of tolerance, compassion, and citizenship.

Other Notes:

• A full, final report and Festival Guide for future festivals are in progress and will be complete in a few weeks.
• Armartes Williams is producing a beautiful video of the Festival. Look for its completion soon also!
• Two local doctors donated cash to purchase snacks for the Festival. Apples, raisins, and water were available for all thanks to their generosity. Remaining snacks were donated to the food pantry.
• Festival banners — one is hanging in tag! Children’s Museum, and the other will be delivered to CSA at the June 26 meeting.
• Many lessons learned — the most important one being the value of this amazing event -the children’s thoughtful and beautiful representations of tolerance, compassion, and citizenship and the joy of families celebrating and soaring together in a stunning, natural, outdoor setting. Communications received thanking us for the event and the opportunity to participate included notes from SJCSD Superintendent of Schools, Tim Forson, principal Marquez Jackson, and art teachers Matt Mittelstadt and Jena Hauber. All communications from schools wholeheartedly endorsed the Festival and conveyed the hope that they would be able participate in any future events.
• Feedback and looking forward — would love to hear from any and all regarding making next year’s festival even better.
• THANK YOU all for supporting this Festival with your hearts, your hands, and your treasures.

FESTIVAL OVERVIEW

Mission — Rise Kite Festival, an American Kiting Association sanctioned event, will provide opportunities for the children of St. Johns County to explore, represent, and commit to the Character Counts 6 Pillars of Character and the ideals of tolerance, compassion, and citizenship.

Project Overview — A curriculum guided kiting experience with emphasis on the artistic and engineering elements of kiting will be provided to students in St. Johns County Title 1 Schools. The artistic elements (text, symbols, graphics) of each child’s kite will represent their commitment to tolerance, compassion, and citizenship and will be aligned with the 6 Pillars of Character Counts (Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, Citizenship).

• Curriculum connections — Art, Character Counts, Social Sciences, Science & Engineering, and Mathematics

Curriculum delivery:

• Via art classes, general education classes, science and STEM classes
• Workshop at tag! Children’s Museum of St. Augustine — May 9, 2018
• RISE: Kites in the Classroom Newsletter with curriculum plans and online resources provided for each school

Curriculum resources:

• Free kite kits at participating SJCSD Title 1 schools
• Free kite literature for participating SJCSD Title 1 schools
• Digital and print kite making curriculum materials
• Digital resources to teach tolerance, compassion, and citizenship

The objective of this event is to provide St. Johns County Title 1 elementary and middle school students the opportunity to explore, represent, and pledge to uphold the 6 Pillars of Character of Character Counts, as well as meeting Florida State Standards in subjects such as science and engineering, mathematics, social studies, and the arts. As part of this curriculum, students are learning tolerance and the acceptance of others, as well as the principles of good citizenship. These values are being taught in art, science, math, and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) classes using the design and construction of kites as a learning vehicle. The kites will be decorated in a manner that represents the students’ commitment to RISE above intolerance, bullying, and incivility and uphold the 6 Pillars of Character. Upon completion of the curriculum, the students and their families who choose to do so will bring their kites to Anastasia State Park to fly them at the RISE Kite Festival and will receive recognition for their efforts.

Compassionate Saint Augustine and tag! Children’s Museum are sponsoring this project and Festival by providing the schools with kiting supplies and resource materials to support teachers’ instructional programs. A kite-making workshop will be hosted at tag! Children’s Museum.