Best Practices, Volume IV

Central Middle School and KeyBank and Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau

Table of contents

What Anchorage bank president designated $10,000 to a class of eighth graders and their teacher to plan and host a hospitality room for a national symposium? Answer: KeyBank’s president Mike Burns!

What convention and visitors bureau provided staff to mentor a group of eighth graders and their teacher to become authentic Anchorage ambassadors and meeting planners? Answer: Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau!

Central Middle School Principal: Keith Taton Contact: Tam Agosti-Gisler Phone: 742-5126

KeyBank Contact: Teresa Nelson Phone: 564-0445 ACVB Contact: Bonny Sosa Phone: 257-2326

Dedicated, committed School Business Partners The long-standing School Business Partnership between KeyBank and Central Middle School began in the fall of 1993. Since then, KeyBank has been one of Central’s staunch supporters—not just in word, but in deed. Central Middle School’s first partner was the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) created when the program was first formed in 1991; it continues to represent partnership excellence. ACVB provides many opportunities each year for students to become professionally involved in their community. Two months planning The National Association for Partners in Education (NAPE) Symposium was held at the Egan Center from October 31 to November 2, 2001. Close to 1,700 visits were made to the hospitality room. This was the first time NAPE held their conference in Alaska, and the first time students have run the hospitality room! Event planning began the first day of school in September. Students met and worked with the Egan Center manager to order refreshments and plan space layout. Students solicited local businesses and partners for the use of furniture, flowers, refreshments and Alaskan door prizes. Students were even able to negotiate a reduced price for soda pop from business partner Aurora Vending —the Egan Center’s supplier!

Preparation of press releases, public service announcements, signs and fliers to advertise the hospitality room was done by students. They also took on the role of the “Wild About Anchorage” critters during the Symposium. An official ribbon cutting ceremony with the president of KeyBank was arranged by students and they worked various shifts setting up, running, and taking down the room over the three days of the Symposium. Special thanks to KeyBank, Costco, A Special Touch Florist, Panoramic Adventures, Refrigeration and Food Equipment, Limited Editions Furniture, ACVB, Remember Alaska gift shops, Blockbuster Video and Aurora Vending. Students solicited comments from hospitality room visitors in a guest book and received many congratulatory letters and emails after the event.

NEXT: Mirror Lake Middle School and Perennial Gardens

Please note: The information on this page is from the 2002 edition of Best Practices. The people, programs and contact information included were current at the time of publication, but may have since changed.