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timothycarterlampe

Back in 2006, the SEED (Sport and Entertainment Event Development) program that I teach for the Center for Sport Leadership at VCU partnered with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra (RSO) to create an event called “Come and Play”.  It is an event that invites anyone from the Metro Richmond area to come and play a musical instrument with the professional musicians from the symphony.  You can be one or one-hundred years old, you just have to be able to play an instrument.

The event day starts early with equipment load-in and the Siegel Center floor is set-up for a 500 person orchestra!  Participants start arriving at 10 AM to register and to get situated in their particular section.  Participants spend the next few hours learning music with their professional counterparts with a full orchestra practice to end the afternoon.  At 6 PM, the Siegel Center is then opened up to the public for an evening concert to cap off the day.  A couple of thousand people from the community attend the event to support the RSO and their community members.

One purpose of the event is to engage people with the RSO.  More importantly to me, however, is how the event is also used as a fundraiser to raise money for the Richmond Public Schools music department.  In the seven years since our partnership began, the event has raised more than $37,000.00!  The money is used to provide instruments to school children who cannot afford one and to buy music and materials used for teaching.

It’s not a sport but my students learn a valuable lesson on how to use sport facilities to make a wonderful impact of the kids who live in our own backyard…by any means possible.  It’s music to my ears!

COME AND PLAY EVENT PICTURES

timothycarterlampe

Sunday, March 17, 2013 was a very special day.  The students in the Center for Sport Leadership program at VCU hosted the 2nd Annual Paralympic Experience Day at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center on Sunday. The annual event  introduces individuals with physical disabilities and visual impairments, as well as able-bodied participants, to Paralympic sports.  The students worked with Sportable to educate the public, particularly those with physical disabilities, about opportunities to compete in sport for the purpose of physical fitness and quality of life.

The highlight of this year’s event was a five year old girl who was surprised with the gift of a “sport” wheelchair.  It was designed especially for her so that she could “break out” of her regular chair.  You should have seen that girl go!  It reminded me of how a small child acts when they start to crawl or walk…good thing we had an acre of open floor for her to move.  It was an amazing site and a definite life changing experience for this girl!

It was a good time for everyone who participated and a great experience in advocacy leadership for my students.  Well done!!

Pictures from the event:

Times Dispatch March 17, 2013

Times Dispatch March 18, 2013

timothycarterlampe

Every year, my Center for Sport Leadership (CSL) class, called SEED or Sport and Entertainment Event Development, creates a new community based event.  The idea behind these events is to teach life skills through sport.   This year’s event that the CSL students created is a STEM & Sport event, otherwise known as “Education Day” at Richmond International Speedway (RIR).  The event will be held on April 25, 2013 during Race Week and will involve between 600 and 800 middle school children from the Henrico County Public School district.

The idea behind the event was born out of separate conversations with Ricky Dennis, President of RIR, and Ricky Dennis, Owner of Arena Racing USA.  Both had come to me with similar ideas about coming up with a way to increase the popularity of their respective sports, specifically among a younger audience.  Since STEM is such a hot button topic right now in and around all levels of education, it became clear that we could create an educational opportunity that would involve and benefit children in our local community.

This past Thursday, March 14th, we held a warm up event at the Richmond Coliseum where we brought in 250 local children for a quick introduction to Arena Racing.  This was done by bringing the children and their teachers onto the track to let them look, see, touch, feel, and talk about all of the STEM components in around the track area, including the cars.  We then put them in the seats next to the track so that they could watch one of the half-sized NASCAR Arena Race cars take about ten full-speed laps around the track.. They were impressed to say the least.  We then held a question and answer session that was engaging and energetic as we discussed and related things they have done in their classrooms to what they just saw at the track.  The session seemed to bring to life some of the boring details surrounding the classroom version of science, technology, engineering, and math.  The feedback from the teachers was extremely positive and we look forward to “Education Day” at RIR in April.

timothycarterlampe

As the new semester at VCU kicks into high gear, so too does the excitement surrounding this year’s community-based events being produced by the Center for Sport Leadership at VCU.  This year’s line up consists of the following four staple events:

• Sportable – a paralympic experience designed to promote the inclusion of people of all physical abilities into daily fitness activities.
• Young Aces Open – the Worlds Larger QuickStart Tennis Tournament that teaches healthy lifestyles, teamwork, and leadership skills through the sport of tennis.
• Kickin’4Kidz – a soccer based event that teaches healthy lifestyles, teamwork, and leadership skills through the sport of soccer.
• Megaloudis 5k Fun Run – an event that raises scholarship money to provide college opportunities for women athletes.

Medici Effect

The Medici Effect refers back to the ruling family in Florence, Italy back in the fifteenth century when creativity was promoted through the acceptance of new ideas and viewpoints from around the globe.  The Medici family invited sculptors, scientists, poets, philosophers, financiers, painters, and architects to converge on the city to share and learn from one another.  In the process, barriers between cultures and disciplines were broken down and a new world based on new ideas was forged.  This era became known as the Renaissance period.

My topic isn’t exactly worthy of a Renaissance style idea but it does speak to the convergence of ideas and disciplines that create new ideas.  This basic principle of the Medici Effect was followed to create our fifth event where a connection of dots, conversations, different interests, and goals were tied together to form what will hopefully be a groundbreaking model for the sport and entertainment industry.  The event that is being created this year involves Arena Racing, NASCAR, Richmond International Raceway (RIR), Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS), and the Center for Sport Leadership (CSL) at VCU.

The event does not have an official name yet, but together, as a group, we are creating an event that introduces and teaches STEM components through sport.  I chose the sport of racing for this years event because of separate and oddball conversations that I had with representatives from RIR (unrelated breakfast at Karen’s City Diner on Broad Street) and Arena Racing (poolside conversation as we watched our kids swim) over the summer.  Both  organizations expressed to me separately that they would like to enlist my class/students to see help them build a bigger/better fan base for their sports.  Generally my rule is that we will not help “for-profit” groups make money; however, I will get involved if I think we can create something that benefits community youth groups, under-served or marginalized groups, etc. in the process.

An important key to steering their ideas into something education-based like STEM was made through my studies in the EDLP program.  It was a combination of classroom conversations, having class in a classroom at Hermitage High School where students are taught how to repair engines, air-conditioners, etc., combined with conversations with one of our instructors, Dr. Mike Gill, Executive Principle of the Career and Technical Education Program (CTE) for Chesterfield County Public Schools.  I have learned a lot about public education from my classmates and instructors.  And, as it turns out, STEM programs are very popular.  Components of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) can be taught in ways that are limited only by our imaginations.

Due to existing relationships within our group and local schools, we approached and soon had Dr. Patrick Russo, superintendent of Henrico County Public Schools, involved in our conversations.  He was intrigued by the idea of creating a STEM – Sport initiative but he would only want to be involved if this particular event idea involved a mentoring system between high school and middle school students.  This was accomplished very rapidly with them help of HCPS teachers through Dr. Russo’s directive.

Because of being able to connect dots, conversations, existing relationships, and classroom experiences we now have an event that is being created by a group of CSL master’s degree students with the assistance of HCPS, RIR, and Arena Racing.  NASCAR entered the picture because they expressed interest in the event to see if we could build it into something that could be taken and implemented in all the other NASCAR cities across the United States.  The Medici Effect is about finding “that place” where ideas intersect and I think we found that intersection through the educational values that each entity shares.

Leadership

The leadership dynamic involved with this event has changed since the birth of this project.  In the beginning I seemed to lead from out front as I was pulling the groups  together.  Now that there is formed group with a unified mission and direction, it seems that I now lead from the bottom as I support the effort of my students and the other entities involved.  I am still very much leading the effort but with others and in more of a support role, as I continue to invite additional resources like ESPN, and organizations like them to join the event.  All of the entities are now collectively leading this initiative, but the teachers within the HCPS have especially taken on leadership roles as they develop curriculum that connects what they are teaching to the sport of racing.  Physics and engineering classes as well as auto body and engine repair shop classes are developing connections between the sport of racing and the components of STEM.

The event will be held at Richmond International Raceway on Thursday, April 25th on what is being billed as “Education Day”.  As many as eight hundred Henrico County Public School students will be on site at RIR to participate in what we envision will look similar to a Science Fair.  There will be many hands-on type of activities that will be created by each of the participating entities and students will be able to learn and identify STEM components from each of the activities.

If we can pull this off and establish a legitimate STEM product through racing, it will interesting to see if we can have similar success with other sports such as football, soccer, baseball, or any other sport.  The goal is to get students to understand that they see, touch, feel, and interact with STEM components all the time.  They just have to make the connection.

timothycarterlampe

I am a firm believer that being in the right place at the right time plays into how people become leaders or part of leadership teams.  I also believe that people need to constantly work on personal and professional development strategies to prepare and position themselves for these leadership roles when they present themselves.  Due to leadership changes in the athletic department at VCU, I have become the beneficiary of leadership change and have landed on a leadership team representing the City of Richmond…my community.

Recently I have been named to the Mayor’s eighteen person advisory committee, replacing the outgoing athletic director as the representative from Virginia Commonwealth University, as the City of Richmond enters into an eight year agreement to host the National Football League’s Washington Redskin football training camp starting in July 2013.  The goal of the committee is to examine the team’s needs, current facilities, potential Richmond locations, financing, and possible partnerships that will help provide a successful experience for the Redskin players, administration, as well as the residents of Richmond region.

Of all the things that we are covering, the things that I have learned, and the people I have met as the committee works to narrow down potential sites for the camp, I find that the most interesting part of this process to be the constant power plays, influence peddling, and occasional emotional pleas that occurs throughout each meeting.  Additionally, it is amazing to watch the behind-the-scenes politicking that happens in secrecy, displaying committee member’s personal agendas.

As I look at each committee member and analyze their background, current interests, and potential gains from any decision that is made it is not hard to imagine that a decision has already been made and that the committee process is merely a cover to give the impression that the decision is being made collectively by representatives of the community.

I cannot discuss the details of our meetings yet, but considering Bolman and Deal’s four framework approach to leadership, it is easy to see each of the four frames being represented purposefully throughout the process.  However, with so many factors at play, especially as we watch politics play out, it is not unthinkable that this committee is purely symbolic in nature.

While I am grateful for being selected to represent VCU on this committee as I actively advocate for the best interest of our institution, I still wonder whether this exercise is just that…an exercise.  We are a few weeks out from presenting our findings and “group decision” to the Mayor and it will be interesting to see how we arrive at this decision and if some of the secretive behind-the-scenes information comes out in our discussions or not.

Equally, it will be interesting to see if  ”trust” is ultimately achieved between the committee members and City officials.  Only time will tell if my suspicions are justified or not and, who knows, I might get surprised.  Until then, I will continue to enjoy the ride with the committee as well as focus efforts on getting the Center for Sport Leadership at VCU involved with the logistics of bringing the camp to Richmond and executing a successful camp experience while they are here.  Wait a minute…did I just give away a personal agenda?