WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Feb. 15, 2016 — Two Community Education students, Olivia Best and Brady Lytton, have been selected to pitch their new ideas in the Show of Hands on Wednesday, Feb. 17 when the business pitch contest gets started at 6 p.m. in the Capital Theatre Ballroom.

Best’s idea is an Up-cycled Fashion Show planned for August at the Children’s Museum of the Upper Ohio Valley, Lytton’s idea is a pop-up art event called You’ve been Here Before, planned for this spring at the Blue Church.

A regular community activity of Downtown Wheeling/ReInvent Wheeling, Show of Hands offers entrepreneurs a chance to sell their ideas to the public. The audience listens to four competing four-minute pitches then votes on the best idea. The winner gets all money collected at the door via admission donations and a $1,000 prize from the sponsoring donor, Orrick, Sutcliffe & Herrington.

Olivia Best and Brady Lytton get a chance to sell their business ideas at Wheeling’s Show of Hands.

“I am very proud of Olivia and Brady, who were selected out of a group of 10 applicants. They have worked hard and are so involved in the community and making it better. This is exactly what our Community Education degree students are encouraged to do, so this is especially rewarding for everyone involved in the program,” said Dr. Miriam Roth Douglas, WLU assistant professor of education and director of the degree program.

Best has worked at the Children’s Museum for two years and is earning a Bachelor of Arts in Community Education/Museum Education degree from the College of Education. Her project will provide an outreach to children, age 10-18, an age group that the museum has never focused on before.

“The children are going to be using non-traditional recycled materials to make and ensemble the fashions that they will present at the Upcycled Fashion Show,” Best said. “It’s important that we are offering this age child a place they can think, learn and be creative.”

Lytton also graduates this spring with a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies/Community Education. Originally a graphic design major, his idea offers a dynamic daylong art show, with visual and performing artists, displaying and selling their work in Wheeling’s historic Blue Church, 1206 Byron St., Wheeling.

“At the end of the day what I believe this will be is a great way to showcase a number of different artists by getting as many people involved with it as possible,” Lytton said. “You’ve Been Here Before” is planned from 7 p.m. – midnight, April 22.

“I’m excited that they took this on themselves and applied to Show of Hands, using the skills that we teach. Service to the community is important and both of these projects help out two local organizations, the Children’s Museum and the Blue Church. But the main thing is that our students are involved in Wheeling and using their education exactly as we hoped,” said Douglas.

WLU’s Community Education Program includes six undergraduate majors including Community Arts, Disabilities Services, Educational Leadership in Faith Organizations (Youth Ministry), Museum Education, Outdoor Education, and Sports, Recreation and Wellness. There also is a graduate-level track for students who want to further their degree.

Designed to offer students a bachelor’s degree in non-formal education or non-profit ​fields like after-school program directors, ​camp directors, museum curators, community outreach coordinators and wellness specialists, Community Education is a three-year accelerated, 120-credit hour degree program that includes study abroad options to Germany​.

“Many employers need these types of degree-prepared employees and we partner with lots of local educational organizations, non-profits and community leaders to offer student internships and hands-on opportunities,” Douglas added.

For more information on the Community Education degree, please contact her at miriam.douglas@westliberty.edu or call 304-336-8561.

Show of Hands is a community supported micro-granting program for organizations and individuals developing projects that will impact downtown Wheeling or the surrounding neighborhoods. For more information on Show of Hands, please contact Jake Daugherty, director of Reinvent Wheeling at 304-232-3087.

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