One unique student project strengthening schools and social structures.
A New Feature Project
Project created by Hardin High student!
#urart
Participants prepare four pictures to complete the project. Each picture represents one of four themes: Heritage, Happiness, Hurdles, and Hope. The images are traced into 1/4 circle shapes and glued into designated places in the project. In conclusion, students share the stories behind their images in small talk circles. One theme at a time is covered as a group, each student getting four equal times to speak and contribute. The project visually represents each student and their uniqueness.
Some Feature Implementing Schools
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Flathead High School
Flathead High in Kalispell, Montana ran the project this 22-23 school year with 350+ sophomores, calling it “Sophomore Strengths.” The above image shows the talking circles taking place in their gym. Some 50 Seniors were selected to also do the project and facilitate the talking circles with their underclassmen! Thank you Principal/Leader Michele Paine for structuring the project into their school’s whole child development strategies.
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Great Falls High School
Great Falls High School leaders Whitney Staub, Principal Geoff Habel, and Dugan Coburn, ran the project with 500 students this year. A small group of student made and shared their project to the school’s staff where then each teacher was given the option to use the packet that comes with the project to help their students complete the Unreserved project. A day was selected for teachers to then bring their classes into a designated area to share their project amongst each other in talking circles. The Superintendent and more were present for this day. Thank you Great Falls High for offering this experience to your teachers and students.
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Fergus High School
This year Fergus High (Lewistown, MT) and Lockwood High School did the project with the DII Montana State University- Billings men’s college basketball team and GNAC Conference Champions. Head Coach Luke Fennelly wanted to amplify his men’s notion of “Team” and leadership skills. Doing the project/activity with teams and college students was successful this year. Unreserved proved itself to be a great team builder in any space.
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Glacier High School
Glacier High in Kalispell, Montana ran the project with all of their Freshmen! They selected 50 Seniors to make their own projects, also, who then helped to facilitate the talking circles in their Commons area. All students also got to all gather together for “additional creative and finishing time” before the talking circles. This activity replaced a Listening and Speaking Standards unit normally done in ELA classes. Thank you Principal/Leader Brad Holloway and team for taking on the project so thoroughly.
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Missoula Big Sky High School
Missoula Big Sky High School ran the project with 90 students in their World Geography classes! Teacher Nicole Sarrazin-Strong initiated and drove home the project with her students. Nicole has taught in places, also, such as Alaska and Hawaii. She brought in a student leader, Snpaqsin Morigeau, to talk about talking circles traditions from his Nation. School leader Duran Caffero also helped with the experience. Thank you Nicole and team for setting up such a cool experience for World Geography students!
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Lockwood High School
Lockwood High School in Billings, Montana runs the project through a tiered system, led by their counselor Nycole LaRowe. Sophomores each meet 30 minutes with Nycole to talk about their life through the four Unreserved themes: Heritage, Hurdle, Happiness, and Hope. This builds powerful rapport with students and the counselors at a young age. Juniors then make the actual project in History classes through Rob Tedlund! Lastly, Seniors will portfolio actionable steps made toward one of their Hopes. Thank you Lockwood High and Nycole for this whole school approach and teamwork.
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St. Ignatius High School
Art teacher Caitlin Shelman helmed a dynamic running of the Unreserved project with the St. Ignatius School. Their school displayed the project for the community to also come in and see and the experience was reported on by one of the local news outlets! Thank you, Caitlin for reaching out to Unreserved and bringing in the project to your area!
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Lodge Grass Boys Basketball
Coach Josh Stewart of Lodge Grass High on the Crow Reservation runs this project with his team to deepen their teamwork, ability to be vulnerable and courageous with each other and more. Josh and boys visit schools, also, to share their Unreserved projects and life experiences and histories with surrounding area schools. Thank you Josh for your caring leadership.
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Polson High School
Polson High Principal Andrew Fohrs connected the Unreserved project with their History teacher Katrina Holmes. Katrina is highly touted for her ability to develop great relationships with students. She uses the Unreserved project to further and uniquely deepen teacher-student and peer relationships in her space. Students become the subject! Thank you Andrew and Katrina!
A school social tool
A school social tool
See it for yourself…
“To be honest, my students were highly skeptical of spending time ‘talking about their feelings,’ but there isn’t a single student balking at the opportunity to do it again. They feel valued. They feel heard. Connected. Empowered. Confident. And liberated from the notion that they are alone in their struggles.”
Hali Kirby -Award winning English teacher in Gardiner, Montana
Running it in schools…
The Unreserved project is made for any school! Schools on reservations, in rural areas, and select urban area schools are recruited. This enrichment project typically runs with a grade level and an English or history department for the narrating, story-driven nature of the project. Those two content areas get to zoom out of books or textbooks and zoom into student stories for learning. And, it places an engaging project into those two content areas. Unreserved has also worked with World Geography and art classes, counseling departments, student councils, and more. One high school is running this as a lunch club where teachers share their projects with a group of students once a quarter during lunch time. Some college students groups run the project to build a feeling of home away from home and to quickly make strong campus connections, build 21st century skills and broaden perspective. The project has also run as a half-day or daylong worksop in both colleges and high schools.
The project comes with a packet that explains details for students and teachers. The materials are shipped in a branded box. Schools often welcome in community members to see projects, and they display them in their library, in their front office, at sporting events, and more.
Results
2021-2022 Surveyed students report feeling less alone with their struggles (98%), more empathetic (and able to see others as more dimensional)(98%) and more confident to contribute to groups or teams (96%). One-hundred percent of students would share again (100%) and notes were made in side comments such as, “I wish we could share the project all throughout the year.”
We likely cannot change a student’s destiny in one day; but, we can change a student’s direction in one day and with one project.
The program began on a Wednesday school day in April of 2019 where students from two schools on reservations were brought together with a mostly-white school. Students from Lewistown (agricultural community in Montana), Browning (Blackfeet Reservation), and Hardin (Crow Reservation) joined in Lewistown; the very center point of the country’s fourth largest state. These three schools were sports rivals and came together as one group. Students deeply and courageously connected through the project and its themes. See “Short Film” for the video about this event. Hardin’s co-valedictorian wrote in her Yale application letter, where she now attends, that it was one of her most formative high school experiences.
Once upon a time…
Unreserved places more windows and mirrors in classrooms where students expand their vision on themselves, others, and the world around them.
— Dr. Denise Clark Pope with Stanford’s Masters of Education Department.
Meet the Team
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Steven Davis
COLLEGE IMPLEMENTOR & CONSULTANT
Montana State University Honors College Assistant Dean, using the project with different groups on his campus. Honors college graduate in Biological and Chemical Engineering. Blackfeet descendant and Lower Brule Sioux member. Attends events/gatherings and consults on operation
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Dani Phillips
DIRECTOR
Previous teacher on two reservations and Director of Operations for a college D1 girl’s basketball team. Presents about the project, organizes implementation with schools, ships supplies and manages inventory, outreach, etc.
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Merritt Grace Davis
WELLNESS LEADER & CONSULTANT
Wellness consultant for businesses, non-profits, and individuals and students. Was previously a professional pole vaulter and is now a Tulane Track and Field HOF inductee. Attends events/gatherings and consults on operations.
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Aaron Yost
SCHOOL RECRUITMENT & IMPLEMENTATION
Writing professor and school literacy coach with 20 plus years of experience in public education as an English teacher. College writing professor. Attends events/gatherings. Consults on school implementation and recruits schools.
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Josh Stewart
SCHOOL ADVISOR AND ADVOCACY
Championship high school basketball coach in Lodge Grass, Montana. Previous suicide interventionist. Attends events/gatherings and advises the project’s initiatives in his school on the Crow reservation, including bringing some of his basketball boys and their projects to other schools to share their projects.
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Meggan Cirrincione
SCHOOL ADVISOR & CONSULTANT
Advanced Placement Senior English teacher in rural Montana. Helped organized the first ever event in 2019. Attends events/gatherings and helps advise her school’s multi-dimensional project initiatives. Co-leads the program’s first club structure where teachers at her school share their own project with a cohort of students during lunch time once a quarter.
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Sydney Wagner
SCHOOL ADVISOR & HISTORY AUTHOR
Advanced Placement World History teacher. Co-authored an optional, intriguing history piece on reciprocity with Dr. Shane Doyle that Montana teachers may use. Co-leads the program’s first club structure where teachers at her school share their own project with a cohort of students during lunch time once a quarter.
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Shane Doyle
CULTURAL TEACHER
National cultural teacher and helps Montana implement Indian Education on many topics, including helping with the Unreserved project as the shape of the project resembles the Native American Medicine Wheel shape. Phd in Education. Crow.
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Hayden Hooker
SCHOOL ADVISOR
Advanced Placement senior English teacher in Montana’s most diverse high school. Attends events/gatherings. Oversees school project initiatives for his school.
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Tom Webb
SCHOOL ADVISOR
Helps with his school’s multi-dimensional project initiatives. Attends events/gatherings. English teacher, coach, and ex-Veteran. Has also taken a hand in helping recruit schools.
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Cheyenne Whiteman
STUDENT ADVISOR
Nursing student, dancer, and previous co-valedictorian at Montana’s most diverse high school. Crow/Northern Cheyenne.
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Hannah Mark
STUDENT ADVISOR
Previous co-valedictorian at Montana’s most diverse high school. Currently at Yale University driving the project into Yale. Majoring in Community Health.
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Trajan Hill
STUDENT ADVISOR
Honors college nursing student from the Crow reservation.
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Stan Parker
VIDEOGRAPHER
Storytells humanities topics. His recent feature documentary was revealed at a historic Billings, Montana theater where the subject was a Vietnam vet that returned to Vietnam with his son. See “Short Film” to see some of his work. Pepperdine graduate.
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Mike Phillips
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Oversees budget and financial review with 30 plus years of banking experience with business loans and vice president and president positions.
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James Zormeir
ADVOCACY AND OUTREACH
Nike shoe designer for Nike’s Move to Zero sustainability design team that has designed futuristic shoes with recycled material sported by professional athletes; such shoes are the Cosmic Unity and Space hippie shoes. He has made and shared his own project with students. James connects the project to the public and high-impact partners.
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Tracie Jackson
ADVOCACY & OUTREACH
Nike shoe designer for Nike’s ISPA team and previously their N7 Native design team. She has made and shared her own project with students. Tracie is Navajo! She connects the project to the greater public and high-impact partners.
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Nycole LaRowe
SCHOOL COUNSELOR
School counselor, using the project as an innovative intervention and relationship tool for her school’s counseling department. Meets with every sophomore in her school to listen closely to their stories through the project. Is working on then focusing on actionable steps for her student’s Hope theme that she can help counsel and guide.
Unreserved is the primary service of a 501(c)(3) organization that brings creative expression and social connection to students, believing in the healing and empowering impact of both.
Sponsors include The PD (Phil) Jackson Foundation and colleges in the project’s state of origin: Montana State University, University of Montana, Rocky Mountain College. Unreserved is growing its sponsorship team. These awesome sponsors, school leaders, and implementing teachers, and their shared vision and initiative, make the unique Unreserved project possible. Thanks is also given to the state of Montana’s Office of Public Instruction officials Mike Jetty and Donnie Wetzel Jr. who permit the program to dynamically serve Montana schools.