Leaders from the University of North Georgia (UNG) visited the Gwinnett County and Forsyth County school systems Feb. 12-13 as part of the "Nighthawk Impact Tour: Education Edition." The goal was to deepen relationships between UNG and the systems, resulting in working more closely together.

The focus of the tour was seeing the schools' programs that align with UNG's strategic big bet to "accelerate the fine arts and entertainment."

"We are grateful to the Gwinnett County and Forsyth County school systems for helping us learn so much about what they do and how we can help support them and their students," UNG President Michael Shannon said. "These are the types of collaborations that enable us to accelerate the fine arts and entertainment in our region. We can only do this through strategic relationships with our K-12 partners."

Dr. Chaudron Gille, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, also highlighted the great value of the tour.

"We value our partnerships with the school systems in the region that we serve. Impact Tours like the one we did in Gwinnett and Forsyth counties give us an opportunity to connect our faculty with middle school and high school faculty, learn more about their curriculum and explore opportunities to extend our collaborations," Gille said.

Zechariah Pierce, artistic director of the Gainesville Theatre Alliance and associate director of theatre in UNG's School of Communication, Film & Theatre in the College of Arts & Letters, appreciated the chance to see the programs in Gwinnett and Forsyth.

"I was inspired by what our neighboring county schools were doing in all disciplines of the arts. The innovation that we're bringing to UNG starts with the students before they arrive, and I couldn’t be more excited by the fact that they're being formed by excellence in all areas," Pierce said. "Our goal of creating the center for the arts in the Southeast is supported by the fact that our local school systems are already leading the way to make that happen."

During the Gwinnett visit Feb. 12, UNG's leadership went to Brookwood High School and Five Forks Middle School. This included tours and classroom observations.

For the Forsyth portion of the tour Feb. 13, UNG visited Denmark High School, West Forsyth High School, the Forsyth County Arts and Learning (FoCAL) Center, and Forsyth Central High School.

"The tour demonstrated the importance of reciprocal partnerships. It is vital that we visit our school partners to ensure that we are meeting students' needs and helping to connect that bridge from high school to college," Dr. Sheri Hardee, dean of UNG's College of Education, said. "We can’t create experiences that expand their learning and provide impactful experiences if we don't stay in tune with what's going on in our schools. These tours help us create those bridges, and they solidify our partnerships. We are serving the same students, and we need to work together for that purpose."

David DuBose, director of fine arts for Gwinnett County Public Schools, said the visit from UNG facilitated important conversations.

"To be able to collaborate with the UNG administration and faculty while we did walk-and-talks through each of our fine arts classrooms provided a unique opportunity to have the conversations that are so vital to ensuring we are providing a seamless pipeline for our students to continue with high-quality post-secondary education and opportunities," DuBose said. "The investment that the staff of UNG made in having conversations with administrators, staff and students in our buildings and classrooms demonstrated the desire to really know what the life of a K-12 student looks like in the arts, what they are exposed to and taught, and how we are working on preparing them for their futures in order to know how to better support the students in their pursuit of future careers."

Dr. Valery Lowe, chief of community engagement and lifelong education for Forsyth County Schools, also expressed gratitude for the tour.

"Forsyth County's partnership with the University of North Georgia is critical to our region's success in workforce development. The collaboration our two organizations have and the care about student outcomes are evident through experiences like the Nighthawk Impact Tour," Lowe said. "We are excited to continue partnership efforts around education and more specifically the creative industries growing in our area."