Annual retreat project delivers professional development and community impact
As part of their annual retreat, Belmont University’s Digital Learning & Innovation (DLI) team spent a day at Waverly-Belmont Elementary, a partner school just a few blocks from campus and deeply aligned with Belmont’s mission to educate and uplift a diverse community of learners.
This day-long service-learning project was intentionally designed to do more than give back. The DLI team directed, filmed and produced a much-needed promotional video for the school—an effort that combined hands-on professional development, cross-functional collaboration and a sense of purpose rooted in Belmont’s values.
The experience had three deliberate goals. First, it served as a team-building activity, allowing instructional designers, technologists and DLI’s instructional media team to work side by side in a shared creative process. It also provided a professional development opportunity, designed to help the full team better understand the ins and outs of video production—a critical skill as the university expands online and hybrid offerings. Throughout the day, team members rotated roles, engaged with professional-grade audio, video and lighting equipment and developed fluency in everything from terminology to talent coaching.
In addition, Waverly-Belmont needed a promotional video for their school. While DLI’s typical focus is instructional media, this project provided a chance to apply those skills to a new context, support a neighboring school and expand the team’s capabilities in the process. Beyond technical training, the day offered intentional growth in project management, stakeholder collaboration and the relational skills that make for authentic storytelling.
What resonated most were the voices: students, parents and teachers sharing their love for Waverly-Belmont and the impact the school has had on their lives. The project gave the team an opportunity to listen, capture and elevate these stories—and in doing so, to live out Belmont’s aspiration to be radical champions for helping people and communities flourish. It also reflected the university’s call to amplify storytelling that inspires messages of truth, beauty and goodness.