For years employershaving been making

the case that they needemployees that areworkforce ready. Employers define work-force readiness as theability to understandcore subject matter, plusbeing able to execute21st century skills, including project

management and leadership. This case studyfrom Tulsa, Oklahoma demonstrates that youthhave the ability to acquire the life, learning and career skills of project management anddemonstrate competence in these applied skillsthat can be used in and out of school through-out their lifetime.

BackgroundThis case study from TulsaOklahoma involved 2 schools(one middle and one highschool) and had the supportof the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Tulsa chapter.Kris Reynolds, a certified Project ManagementProfessional (PMP) and now past President ofPMI Tulsa Chapter, built a project based learning,project management program targeted to middle school students, ages 10 – 13. His goal

was to deliver hands-on training that incorporated not only project managementknowledge but also 21st century skills includingcommunication, collaboration, creativity andcritical thinking. His curriculum is a variation ofthe PMI Educational Foundation’s educationalresources, and contains new and engaging activities designed to be easily implementedand for students to get the most learning valueout of the project experiences.

IntroductionMotivated by a conversation with his daughter,Kris started plans to integrate project manage-ment into Tulsa’s middle and high school curriculum about four years ago. Kris was veryconcerned when his nine year old daughter camehome from school one day and said she hadbeen learning & memorizing the state capitols.As a parent, Kris worried that rote memorizationof such facts did nothing to improve his daughterand her classmates’ critical thinking skills. Thiswas the catalyst that drove him to approach hisdaughter’s school and offer to start a projectmanagement program for youth.

Middle School ProgramTo begin his middle school project managementprogram at Thoreau Demonstration Academy,Kris held introductory project managementcourses using team and hands-on exercises to

Integrating the 21st century skill of managingand leading projects into the middle and

high school curriculum

1

TULSA, OKLAHOMA:

As a parent, Kriswas concerned thatrote memorizationof facts does nothing to improvecritical thinkingskills

Kris Reynolds

2

teach the students project management andleadership concepts. He put great emphasis on the practical and applied skills of project management including team building and diversity, time management and scheduling, teammember roles and responsibilities, as well ascommunication management and risk assessment.

Recognizing collaboration as an essential projectmanagement and 21st century workforce readi-ness skill, Kris focused on incorporating teambuilding and bonding exercises into the program.To get the students comfortable in the newcourse and in working in teams, he led an “ice breaker” activity, which was followed by a tower building exercise and an online personality assessment.

To further cement the students’ understandingof project management, Kris had them applytheir project management knowledge to a realworld project that students plan and do. Projectsprovide an interactive and tangible way for students to demonstrate project managementand leadership skills and provide opportunitiesto practice a variety of 21st Century Skills.

The middle school project highlighted in thiscase study centers around the school’s end-of-year 8th Grade Day, which is a series of

celebrations andactivities organizedby the 8th gradegraduates heldimmediately aftertheir middleschool graduationceremony. Becauseof their projectmanagementtraining, the students had theknow-how andskills they neededto tackle the project. Every

Friday after school, starting in January 2012, the student team, which was hand-picked byteachers based on their maturity and leadershipcapabilities, met for 40 minutes with teachersmentoring the students.

The students were extremely excited and eagerto conduct the planning and execution of suchan important event in their middle-school career. Sheridan, one of the 8th grade studentspicked to participate said “I thought it’d begreat, because…I get to participate in somethingthat everyone’s going to have fun with!”

Offering the studentsa project in whichthey clearly hadstrong motivation fora successful outcomewas critical to theirengagment as teammembers. In the realworld this isn’t alwaysthe case, but at an 8th grade level it is important for students to completeprojects they careabout and that candrive their learning.This connection tooutcomes students care about and that affecttheir personal lives helped students realize thatproject management and leadership skills arenot alien concepts but are applicable to theireveryday life.

Having a real-world project to work on alsohelped Kris and the teacher mentors underscorekey project management skills that are oftenoverlooked in the professional world. For example, Kris had the students define ‘projectrisk’ for their 8th grade celebration. When theyconsidered the risk of vendors not showing upfor the event, their t-shirts arriving late, or amiscalculation that causes them to go over-

Leadership and responsibility arecore componentsof project management and21st century skills

The specific schools involved in the case study were:

• Middle School - Thoreau DemonstrationAcademy, which has implemented the MicroSociety program (http://thoreau.tulsaschools.org/curriculum/microsociety)

• High School - Tulsa Tech, a multi campus independent school district in Tulsa, whichprovides career-focused training for highschool students (http://www.tulsatech.com/About/History.aspx)

This connection tooutcomes... helpedstudents realize

that project management andleadership skillsare not alien

concepts but areapplicable to their

everyday life.

3

budget, the students instantly understood the importance of riskmanagement. Defining and planningfor real risks to their event made alasting impression on the students.

In the early stages of the project, the 8th graders struggled with communication skills, and this offeredKris and the teacher mentors the opportunity to pass along techniquesfor speaking to one another clearlyand consistently. As a result, the students gained confidence in communicating important messagesfor the project to stay on track, mak-ing it much easier for them to sharetheir thoughts and opinions withoutfeeling awkward or uncomfortable.

Based on all of the input, both theproject management instruction and the 8thGrade Day for 2012 was a great success! The ageappropriate course materials helped the studentsconfidently approach their project and completeit in scope and on budget, just as they had planned.

The program received kudos from the middleschool principal, “The kids love the program,they’re learning a lot and going home andtelling their parents stories, and the parents aretelling me how much their kids enjoy it. That’stelling me a lot!” –Tom Padalino, Principal,Tulsa Middle School (Thoreau DemonstrationAcademy)

The students provided proof of the knowledgeand skills that they had gained through observations in the classrooms and presentingtheir projects to a group of project managementprofessionals. To showcase their successful eventand new knowledge, the team of students wasinvited to attend a PMI Regional Conferencewhere they presented and led PMI member participants in some of their team building

activities. The PMI professionals attending the event were very impressed by theapplied skills and knowledge learned by studentsand many were motivated to replicate the program in their local schools.

More information about Tulsa program includ-ing the teambuilding exercises, curricula andtemplates can be found on the PMI EducationalFoundation’s website at http://www.pmi.org/pmief/learningzone/tulsa_pm_for_youth.asp

High School ProgramTulsa Tech High School also completed severalprojects with guidance, teaching and mentoringfrom Kris Reynolds, although they did not havethe advantage of the full program that the middle school received. Kris was brought intothe class by teacher Theresa Pinkston becausethe students were struggling to facilitate aproject for an outside business owner. Knowingthat Kris had been working with the middleschool Theresa reached out to Kris for help.

“ The kids love theprogram, they’relearning a lot andgoing home andtelling their parentsstories, and the parents are tellingme how much theirkids enjoy it. That’stelling me a lot! ”

– Tom Padalino Principal, Tulsa Middle School

(Thoreau Demonstration Academy)

Students utilized stakeholder surveys,scope statementsand risk assessmenttools throughout the planning process.

Risk Response

Risk ID

Risk Description Impact (1-9) Probability (.1-.9) Priority (I x P) Type Description

1

Someone could have food allergies causing

them to get sick 5

.2 1.0 MIT

Announce the menu to the students

ahead of time so they can avoid any

of the foods they may be allergic to

2 Someone can get hurt

on inflatables 6

.3 1.8 MIT Have volunteers enforce the proper

safety rules of the inflatables

3

Coming back into school

muddy could cause a mess in the school

1 .5

.5 TRAN Transfer the cleaning to the firemen

or if they can’t, then the janitor

4

Not having enough volunteers to help with

8 th Grade Day 5

.5 2.5 TRAN

Need to transfer this risk to the

PTSA to coordinate the volunteers

5 Food vendor doesn’t

arrive on time 2

.7 1.4 TRAN

6 Entertainment doesn’t

show up

8 .3

2.4 MIT Call 48 hours in advance to secure

times and make sure

7

Firemen may have to leave or may not be able

to come

3 .7

2.1 ACC

8

Students do not pay the fee for 8 th grade day

lessoning our budget 2

.1 .2 ACC Low risk as PTSA would likely cover

any deficiencies

9 Poor weather postpones

or cancels 8 th Grade Day 8 .2

1.6 MIT Try and arrange for an alternate

date for the vendors to come if we

get rained out.

10

Class gift does not arrive

in time to present at graduation ceremony

2 .8

1.6 MIT Blow up a picture of what we

bought so we can present that.

11 No T-shirts or not

enough

5 .1

.5 MIT Use local company to save on

shipping time.

12

We go over our budget causing issues for next

year’s class

7 .2

1.4 MIT

Have detailed accounting of the

items that we’re spending money

on. Cut back on ancillary items to

ensure main items are able to be

purchased.

0.9

0.8

10

0.7

5 7

0.6

0.5 3

4

0.4

0.3

2

6

0.2

1

12

9

PRO

BA

BIL

ITY

0.1

8

11

1

2 3

4 5

6 7

8 9

IMPACT

Thoreau DEMONSTRATION ACADEMY

"Go confidently into the direction of your dream! Live the life you always imagined." Henry D. Thoreau

!Scope Statement - 2012

The objective of the 8 th Grade Day project is:

To create an enjoyable, yet safe experience that our 8 th grade class will never forget.

• List the requirements or scope (what specifics will this encompass) of the project:

Using the results of a pre-event survey that was given to our classmates, our direction for 8 th Grade Day

is as follows: o We will: o

Contact the park to reserve it for our event and contact the firemen to hose us off

o Research an 8 th Grade Class gift to present to the school at the graduation ceremony;

current ideas include sculpture, park bench or landscaping.

o Hold a t-shirt contest to come up with a design for our 8 th Grade Day, allowing the whole

class to submit ideas. The winning entry will earn a $25 iTunes gift card.

o Create, distribute and tabulate a POST-event survey to determine how successful our event

was. o Use a Luau theme for t-shirt, decorations and give-a-ways

o Provide two main food choices - Chick-fil-a and pizza and multiple drink options like

Gatorade, water and assorted pop and Snow Cones, Chips and Fruit Trays as our snacks

choices o Bring in a photographer to take pictures and post them on a website for students to

download. We will also encourage students to bring their own cameras.

o Use a DJ that will play assorted (clean) music based on the choices from our survey.

o Have activities at the park to include sports, tug-of-war, water guns

• Boundaries (what will not be done with this project):

o The 8 th Grade Graduation Ceremony

o Acquiring a speaker for the graduation ceremony

o Post Graduation Reception

o 8 th Grade Gift Bags o Obtaining Adult Volunteers

o Actual purchasing of items – we don’t have credit cards

o Setup of the park – we’ll be at graduation

o Registration of students and collection of their money

Thoreau DEMONSTRATION ACADEMY

8th Grade Day Survey – 2012 Graduating Class Please take some time to complete the following questions for 8th Grade Day. Your answers will provide

direction as we plan the best 8th Grade Day ever!

1. (Select One) What type of theme/decorations would you like to have for 8th Grade Day?

a. Luau/Beach b. Carnival c. Olympic d. Other: ______________________ e. No theme needed

2. (Select One) What type of food would you MOST like to have at 8th Grade Day?

a. Pizza – List your favorite type: ______________________ b. Sandwiches – Circle your favorite: Subway / Schlotzky’s / Quiznos c. Chick-Fil-A d. Salad Bar

3. (Select One) What type of drink would you MOST like at 8th Grade Day?

a. Pop – List your favorite brand: ____________________________ b. Lemonade c. Gatorade d. Water

4. (Select One) What type of snack would MOST like at 8th Grade Day?

a. Snow Cones b. Candy c. Pop Corn d. Fruit e. Cotton Candy

5. (Select One) Would you like to have music at the 8th Grade Day?

a. NO b. YES, if yes how would you like have the music played?

i. DJ ii. CDs/iPod and speakers

iii. Live Local Band

6. (Select One) What type of music would you like to hear at 8th Grade Day? a. Hip Hop b. Classic Rock c. Pop d. Alternative e. Other – please describe: __________________________

4

In the middle schoolproject the hands-oninstruction was donesequentially, startingwith good planning,team building andproject managementlearning excerciseswhich led to the execution of a successful project. In this case the class was really starting right in the middle of an ongoing project.

After learning about the class’ first project, Krisled some team building activities and trained thestudents on the basics of project management,which helped motivate them to complete oneadditional project during the same school year.The two projects showed both the downsides of a poorly managed project versus the positiveresults of a well-run project. It also showedthere is value to failure; the students learned as much through their failed project as theirsuccessful one; for through failure comes deeplyinternalized learning.

The project early in the year was completedwith very little planning or project scheduling and without a clear understanding of what the business owner really wanted the studentsto accomplish. The project was to design promotional marketing items for the Elite Gym

program. After the students spoke to the clientin their first meeting and got a general idea ofwhat she wanted, they dove right in withoutany real planning or clarification of goals.When students fail to plan, it provides arich learning experience for them becausethey really struggle with their projects and learnfrom this mistake. Further meetings with theclient uncovered more details and expectationsuntil the students realized they were in trouble

because they had prom-ised to complete a project with very little information and realizedthey were overcommitted.

To warm the students upto the project manage-ment curricula, Krisstarted with an engaging,team building hands-onexercises, one that used a cake baking example

that gave the students familiarity with the concept of sequencing tasks both in a linear andparallel manner. This prepared the students formore advanced project management conceptsand methods.

Not given a chance to work with the studentsuntil very late in the project, this first projectwas completed but not ideally. The projectshould have taken 1 month but it took 3 monthsand was $40,000 over the hypothetical budget.In the end the client was satisfied with herproduct but she was not pleased that it took so long.

Fortunately the students were able to undertakea second project – a student film festival. Thisproject was much better organized and man-aged than the first. However, as with all projects,problems still had to be solved, overtime put in,and bureaucratic obstacles to success overcome.The project team had chosen the project, andthey were all deeply invested in it, as it was

...there is value to failure; the students learned asmuch through theirfailed project astheir successful one

“ Project managementskills are important inadulthood since everythingyou do out in the realworld is project related. ”

– Lauren

5

designed to highlight the artistic talent and creativity of their fellow students and were will-ing to invest the extra time and energy neededto make the project succeed.

During the second project the lessons learnedfrom the first project were taken to heart, especially the need for comprehensive planningand determining the complete scope at the outset. It was a very successful project and agreat deal of learning was accomplished.

In the end the Film Festival was a great success,coming in under budget and meeting all of thedeadlines. The owners of the cinema evenasked that the event be repeated next year.Kris was very pleased that that the students recognized the difference between the twoprojects and how employing good project practices results in better project outcomes.

As he had in the middle school class, Kris introduced time management, goal setting andpresentation skills, all critical life, learning andproject management skills.

Kris included more advanced project manage-ment skills and concepts in the high school class.Project management education needs tobe targeted to students’ abilities andgrade levels, providing younger students withmore basic concepts and simplified language,building to more complex concepts and skillswith older students.

As Ashley, one of the high school students inthe project said, “I think just having that experience of failing and then also succeedingin the same year was good for all of us. I thinkit’s something that we’ll all be able to pull from,even later on in life. …We also learned how important communication and planning are. Alot of what we learned are life skills. Even if wedon’t become project managers we learned howto work with people, be flexible, very flexible,and how to work with change in the workplace,and projects and clients.”

Going forwardKris plans to get more PMPs involved so the program can be expanded, eventually providingprofessional development for classroom teachers and PMPs to learn from each other andcollaborate on teaching project managementand leadership methods and concepts. To that end Kris has started some professional development classes for the Tulsa High School;teachers and several administrators attended hisfirst session and immediately saw the benefitsand decided to expand the program to reachmore teachers and students. The administratorssaw great value to the students and alsowanted the teachers benefit from learning project management and leadership as a professional skill that will help them with instructional organization and planning.Theresa Pinkston is planning on replicatingsome of Kris’s team building exercises with her teacher colleagues.

Obstacles to Expansion of ProgramKris Reynolds sees the road ahead as promisingbut not without challenges, “I’ve talked to thesuperintendent about it and he thinks it’s agood program, but he feels that you can’t makewholesale changes of statewide curriculum. In his opinion the best bet is to go into the individual facilities where the principal hassome control over it, so that’s what we’re going

Kris introducedtime management,goal setting andpresentation skills,all critical life,learning and project management skills.

“ Risk management helpsme identify issues that mighthappen, which ones I shouldfocus on and how to deal with them. ” – Ethan

6

to do. We could obviously move faster and have a greater impact if project management in schools was adopted on a state-wide basis as it has been done in North Carolina and Washington State.”

The work of bringing Project Management skills and methodologies into the curricula of the Tulsa school system is well underway, thanks to dedicated teachers, administratorsand members of the PMI Tulsa Chapter. It willbe exciting to see what they accomplish in 2012-2013 and beyond!

Conclusion The two project management and leadershipprograms in Tulsa demonstrated that studentsare eager to learn, understand and apply project management skills to help them bemore successful in their students projects. Learning projects are becoming more common-place in classrooms today and with some instruction and practice in effective projectmanaging and leadership, students can alsogain practical life skills, powerful learning skillsand critical 21st century career skills that can beused throughout their lives.

© 2012 PMI Educational Foundation. All rights reserved.

The Project Management Institute Educational Foundation logo and “Empowering the future of project management” are registered marks of Project Management Institute Educational Foundation, Inc. “PMI” is a registered mark of ProjectManagement Institute, Inc. For a comprehensive list of PMI and PMIEF marks contact the PMI Legal Department.

14 Campus BoulevardNewtown Square, PA 19073Tel: +1-610-356-4600Fax: +1-610-356-0357E-mail: pmief@pmi.orgInternet: www.pmief.org