Internships for Kutztown University

During my final semester at Kutztown University I completed two internships simultaneously for my BA in English/Professional Writing. Looking back, I see now that that was a bit nuts.
Three days a week I interned at the Reading Public Museum under the supervision of Marsha Lehman in the Department for Life-Long Learning and for two days a week I was in Bethlehem interning for the Celtic Cultural Alliance, the non-profit organization behind Celtic Classic.
While it was a crazy schedule on top of my classes, I feel I did take full advantage of both internships as valuable learning experiences. 
Ultimately, I was hired by the Celtic Cultural Alliance for after I graduated to assist through the 2006 Celtic Classic festival and I worked with them until after the 2007 festival. Because of this work, I was able to fully realize my 'pet' educational project I had begun while an Intern, the Celtic Quest: A Passport to the Seven Celtic Nations.

ABOUT CELTIC CULTURAL ALLIANCE + CELTIC CLASSIC
The Celtic Classic – presented by Celtic Cultural Alliance (CCA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the Celtic heritage through education, musical presentations, and traditional competitions in athletics, piping and dance – is the largest free Celtic festival and Highland Games in North America. Historically, over the two-and-a-half days of the festival it brings over 280,000 visitors to downtown Historic Bethlehem in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania.  During my internship and subsequent employment at Celtic Cultural Alliance the festival celebrated their 20th anniversary, hosted a record number of over 300,000 patrons, and became the host for the U.S. National Highland Games Championship, with the Champion heading to the World Highland Games Championship in Scotland. Celtic Classic is now in it’s 32nd year.

Welsh Daffodil Celtic Quest Station • Celtic Classic 2007

Flags of the Seven Celtic Nations • Designed by Sayre Design • From left to right: Wales, Ireland, Cornwall, Galicia, Brittany, Isle of Man, and Scotland

Celtic Quest: A Passport to the Seven Celtic Nations • Passport, Flashcards, and Folder • Designed by Sayre Design • Research + Content by Kat Moyer

Celtic Quest Key Holder Logo • Sayre Design

Celtic Quest: A Passport to the Seven Celtic Nations

2005 - INTERNSHIP FOR THE CELTIC CULTURAL ALLIANCE/CELTIC CLASSIC
2005 - 2007 - MARKETING + EVENTS ASSISTANT, EDUCATION COMMITTEE LEAD

CELTICFEST.ORG

Morning Call Article about Celtic Quest • September 2006

The Celtic Quest program was designed to introduce children (and their families) to the seven Celtic nations – Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, Isle of Man, Brittany, and Galicia – while leading them throughout the entire festival. The Celtic Quest program was devised while I was in a meeting with the Executive Director John Sweeney and the program book designer Michael Sayre of Sayre Design, as they were searching for a solution to getting more traffic flow through the large festival grounds. It was my suggestion to create some kind of ‘treasure hunt’ to lead patrons through the entire festival, while simultaniously ‘educating through entertainment’.  A solution that both increased circulation of families in attendance and satisfied one of the Celtic Cultural Alliance mission statement objectives. 

Celtic Quest: A Passport to the Seven Celtic Nations became a small, passport-sized booklet, with details and facts about each of the seven Celtic nations culture and history, in which the children would collect stamps of each nation’s flag at strategic Celtic Key sites throughout the festival. They also received a double-sided flash card with further information about each of the nations and a folder to keep everything tidy. Once the child collected all seven stamps, they would become a ‘Celtic Quest Key Holder’ and be further rewarded with a free beverage and enrolled to receive a free newsletter on Celtic Culture. During the first year more than 7,000 people registered with Celtic Classic’s mailing list through the program.

I worked closely with Michael Sayre to develop the program, contributing the research,  writing the passport pages, flashcards, and the instructions to guide the patrons through the program. It was one of the most exciting times of my young career and I'd jump at the opportunity to work on another 'educating through entertainment' project or projects.

As a benefit, the program also fulfilled a sponsor request by the Keystone National Bank and Trust (KNBT) to put together a month-long co-promotion between the bank and the festival; requesting something educational and kid friendly. With KNBT’s $15,000 sponsorship, Celtic Classic was able to design, print and distribute the passports, flash cards and folders which were distributed for the first time during the 2005 Celtic Classic and at local KNBT branch locations.

Celtic Quest • Passport Booklet

A small, passport-sized booklet, with details and facts about each of the seven Celtic nations culture and history, in which the children would collect stamps of each nation’s flag at strategic Celtic Key sites throughout the festival.

Celtic Quest • Flashcards

A double-sided flash card with further information about each of the nations and a folder to keep everything tidy.

Celtic Quest • After the second year

Celtic Quest Area • Celtic Classic 2007

By 2007, the Celtic Quest program ceased to lead families through the festival and instead attracted them to the new Celtic Heritage Grove, which was dedicated to all of the free cultural and educational aspects of Celtic Classic. For the new location, I led the Educational Committee and the two interns I was now supervising, into building stations with an easy craft or activity that related to the culture or history for each of the Celtic nations. To mark each station, I designed 3.5 x 8 foot backdrop banners, and to explain each craft or activity and how it related to that Celtic nation I designed informational boards and handouts. I was also responsible for ordering and assembling enough craft kit pieces for approximately 5,000 children, and designing and gathering the materials for the activities, such as building the miniature golf-course, and finding field hockey-type sticks for playing Isle of Man's cammag. 

The Celtic banners are still used by the Educational Committee during Celtic Classic in the Children’s Tent, however the rest of the Celtic Quest materials had ceased to be used by the 2008 festival.

“CELTIC QUEST HERITAGE GROVE STATIONS –
Ireland – Turn a pipe cleaner into a St. Brigid’s Cross
Wales – Make a Paper Daffodil
Scotland – A Round of Miniature Golf 
Isle of Man – Play a Game of Cammag
Galicia – Decorate a Scallop shell for your Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela 
Brittany – Learn to Dance in a traditional ’Fest-Noz’ 
Cornwall – Learn about Heraldry, and make a felt Cornish Heraldry fridge magnet.”

Seven Celtic Nations • 3.5 x 8 foot Informational Banners

To mark each station, I designed 3.5 x 8 foot backdrop banners. The Celtic banners are still used by the Educational Committee during Celtic Classic in the Children’s Tent, however the rest of the Celtic Quest materials had ceased to be used by the 2008 festival.

Celtic Quest Station • Information Boards

To explain each craft or activity and how it related to that Celtic nation I designed informational boards and handouts. I also lent a hand to our Celtic heritage weaver reenactor and made two boards to explain how wool comes from sheep and the clothing of the Ancient Celts.

FRONT ENTRANCE OF THE READING PUBLIC MUSEUM

FRONT ENTRANCE OF THE READING PUBLIC MUSEUM

Greece + Rome Gallery Guide

2005 - INTERNSHIP FOR THE READING PUBLIC MUSEUM • DEPARTMENT OF LIFE-LONG LEARNING

READINGPUBLICMUSEUM.ORG

The Gallery Guides are square, laminated books of information that walk kids, their parents and any adults who might be shy about asking for information, through the galleries that they are written for. The Guides feature the key objects in the gallery that the Museum would like to showcase, cultural information about the gallery and questions about the information in the guide and about the gallery. 

The Greece + Rome Gallery Guide required photography, my very first attempt at using Photoshop, research and creating content appropriate for children under twelve. It was a blast and I was sincerely flattered when the Museum's two copies of the finished Guide I created were taken home by someone soon after it was put out...

After I finished the writing for the Greece and Rome Gallery Guide, my supervisor and her supervisor asked me to transfer the writing and photographs into a guide for adults and teachers visiting the Museum. I included all of the information that was in the Gallery Guide, plus all of the leftover writing that I was not able to fit into the Guide. This content was also used on the RPM website for a time. 

“Kat is a favorite with the museum’s staff. She gets along with everyone socially and is respected because of the quality of her work. She just takes projects and runs with them, yet is always amenable to correction. Any company would surely be grateful to have her!”
— Marsha Lehman, Director for the Department for Life-Long Learning for Reading Public Museum