Amplifying the power of student voice to transform adult mindsets.

Voices is a framework for school improvement that provides a highly relevant and engaging process for your students and staff to enter into constructive conversations about engagement, diversity, equity, inclusion, distance learning, relevance and more.

We train staff to close the perception gap, by creating a deeper understanding of their students’ experience, which transforms their mindsets, leading to positive change in how they approach their work with students and each other.

By using authentic student stories, we guide hearts so minds can be moved to action. Our third person perspective and extensive experience in working with thousands of educators and students across the country enables us to ask the right questions, allowing us to go deeper, faster.

In the end, students feel safe, valued and respected which bolsters achievement. Staff feel empowered and energized by getting to know their students in a new authentic way.

We believe when we can move people at an emotional level, they come to their own conclusions and realizations on how to better relate with students.

Our Process

The Voices Framework is grounded in a Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Cycle, a system for continuous improvement. This system guides implementation from the initial planning stage through the time to take action. Captivate Media will lead all four stages with guidance from your team.

PLAN

-Meet with building and district leaders

-Determine goals and focus

-Determine leadership team

-Create a project timeline

-Identify students

DO

-Select students

-Communicate with students and their caregivers

-Build trust

-Schedule video production day(s)

-Discuss themes from students

-Edit the interviews

-Present video to leadership team

-Present video to students

-Finalize video

STUDY

-Present video to small groups of staff

-Use video for facilitated conversations

-Use video clips to follow-up in PLCs

-Identify quick-wins

ACT

-Share areas of success and improvement

-Discuss ideas for potential long-term work

-Continue using student voice to aid decision-making

-Reunite students and select staff to share impact of video

-Discuss ways to use video clips to continue the conversation, internally and externally

What people are saying

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“As a principal whose "why" is grounded in the stories and experiences of children, it is imperative for my leadership to bring about action that elevates students to have voice and design a school culture through student decision making. My work with the Voices Project was the fire we needed as a school to enact this change in our practices from our students. This was not easy work. It pushed our beliefs, our mindsets and our attitudes and it tested the culture of our relationships as a community. Through this struggle, which is the only step towards a system of justice, we've come out with a a more clear vision, specific language to build the anti-racist institution our students and community has asked for thanks to the stories and voices of our kids.”

Josh FraserBrooklyn Center Community Schools
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“We live in a data rich culture. What we do with that data will be the determining factor of how useful that information is to guide change in our school systems. Data are numbers without stories. Stories compel people to understand, to empathize and in education, to rally together to address. There is no substitute for the powerful influence a story can have. I'm not sure you can say the same about data. Through leveraging student voice, Captivate Media allowed us to tell the stories of the student experiences in our high school, and reinforce those stories with data that had been collected. It created a sense of urgency to the work that cannot be replicated by data alone. In short, Captivate Media helped humanize our data which created a bias towards action.”

Mark McilmoylePrincipal, Mound Westonka High School