Students at Inspirations Performance Studio in Hinesville learned about the principles of public relations and communications from the city of Hinesville’s Public Relations Office from June 3-5.                   

The session was part of a creative-arts summer camp for students interested in the performing arts.

Hinesville public relations manager Krystal Hart and public relations intern Shalaya Crummie guided 11 students through lessons in interviewing, graphic design, public speaking and strategic planning.

The students participated in hands-on activities that strengthened their skills through interviewing and documentation exercises, identifying and analyzing magazine interviews and practicing public speaking with their peers.

“I enjoy showing students that they can make a living pursuing their passion,” Hart said. “Growing up, I didn’t realize there was a place for me in local government to share my writing and planning skills.

I thought I had to move away or choose another career to make a living. Hopefully, they realize now that they really can use creative skills professionally and earn a decent living here.”

The final project was a vision board in which all students participated to show their experiences in Inspiration Performance Studio. The goal of the exercise was to show students how to work as a team, how to identify whether an idea fit into a story concept and how to make an idea come to life visually.

Students chose photos of plants, water, teams and large buildings, among other things, to represent their experience at camp.

“This is a picture of a big building like Mrs. Juanita is going to have one day for a studio and performing-arts school,” said Tahnee McNabb, 10.

“I chose plants because just like plants grow, the studio is going to grow too,” said Keymiah Lewis, 9.

At the end of the workshop, students were rewarded for using their new communications skills.

“The kids really enjoyed the public relations workshop,” said Juanita Lowery, owner of Inspirations Performance Studio. “The children learned valuable skills to use in performing arts. How to interview and ask questions helped them develop skills outside of the performing arts realm. The kids told me they will use this to be comfortable with interviews, and it helped with their writing skills and their imagination.”

If interested in public-speaking opportunities for city employees, contact Hart at 876-3564 or go to www.cityofhinesville.org.