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Andrea Diggs
Administrator
As an administrator, Andrea was chosen to co-lead the District's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committes. She worked as aliason between stakeholders, drafting resource lists, curriculum changes, planning districtwide trainings and leading both focus groups and a comittee in revising and creating the strategic plan for the District's five year plan. In addition to this, she created a Masterclass Series for the school district. This group of professional performing artists, over the course of three years, provided real life experience and knowledge for students seeking to continue Arts on the professional level.
Artists included:
Celina Nightengale- “Aladdin” Broadway Tour
Adrienne Chu- “The Lion King” Broadway Tour
Michael Callahan- “Cinderella” and “Aladdin” Broadway Tour
Jamal Josef- Choreographer & Dancer in Beyonce’s Coachella Performance
April Riles- Actress/ Personal Assistant to Comedian, Lil’ Rel from “The Carmichael Show'' and the film “Get Out.”
Brinie Wallace- “The Book of Mormon” Broadway Tour
Jennifer Geller- “Hamilton” Broadway Tour
Desmond Nunn- “Hamilton” Broadway Tour
Taylor Daniels- “Hamilton” Broadway Tour
Ashley Kate Adams- NYC Actor and Producer
School Culture
As Executive Director and Head of School for Sacred Heart School for the Arts it was a joy to find ways throughout the year to show her appreciation for staff, students and parents who helped make the many events and productions happen seamlessly.
Outreach
One of her charges in the role of Executive Director of SHSA, was to find ways to increase the school's presence in the community beyond the reach of only the private campus. By becoming an Executive Board member of the Louisville Arts and Cultural Alliance, she was able to partner with Fund for the Arts and many other local schools and arts organizations to bring awareness to the community about the many offerings the campus provided for students of all ages.
The school participated in the summer cultural pass which allowed over 100,000 students to visit arts organizations free with their family throughout the summer. Her team created a 10-minute Play Festival that collaborated with students in the public and private schools so their original works could be brought to life on the stage. Andrea and her team hosted a community wide talent show and took arts classes to the public library as well as into underserved community schools.
In her current role as Executive Director of Kidsview Inc., Andrea works with the Diversity, Equity and Poverty Department of Jefferson County Public Schools, along with Evolve502 to provide arts resources and connect Arts instructors to thousands of students throughout the district yearly. This non-profit was originally founded in 2015 by Andrea to connect students to free summer camps.
Andrea composed a rap to be
used to help promote the
Mayor's Office Cultural Pass
Program.
Social Media Marketing
Andrea worked directly with the School District's Marketing department to increase their presence online. She gave interviews as well as promoted programs throughout the community to news outlets and on social media to increase enrollment. One of the largest changes in the Social Media presence was putting representation and inclusivity at the forefront of any post. Prior to her administration, there was very little diversity shown in any marketing materials. Andrea encouraged her team to ask the question, "Who is being left out and unrepresented in brochures, posts, videos and campaigns?" This led to a more inclusive environment and mindset shift in leadership across the district.
New Initiatives
Andrea worked with Department Chairs to create new class offerings that appealed to student demographics not being met (teens to adults). Andrea branded the school's required dance uniforms with the district logo. She expanded the dance studios as well as brought the keyboard labs up to date so that they mirrored that of the collegiate level. Andrea created the Annual Tea Party for the youngest students to attend that also provided a performance opportunity for the older dance and vocal students in a beautiful environment.
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DEI
Andrea became a champion of DEI initiatives throughout her school district. The President of the Sacred Heart Schools chose her to co-chair the districts' first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Andrea worked tirelessly to recruit staff, students, families and new partnerships that were a better representation of the global community that our students were preparing for as International Baccalaureate Candidates. One such diversity initiative was to recreate the classic annual "Nutcracker." In collaboration with the dance department, instructors were brought in to include five different styles of dance in lieu of the expected Classical Ballet.
View video HERE and below.
Adult learners and staff were not left out of the new initiatives Andrea brought to the district. She was able to secure free Afro-Carribean Dance classes for all staff throughout the district.
Through all of her hardwork and commitment for providing quality arts education for all, Andrea was awarded the esteemed St. Angela Award from the President of Sacred Heart Schools.