Discover DAY was initiated by a group of community leaders taking part in Leadership Shelby County. The DAY Program had submitted a request to Leadership Shelby County for help procuring office supplies, but when the group talked with then-director Kathy Miller, it was discovered that a greater need existed for enrichment activities to supplement the basic academic courses offered there. The DAY Program is an ultra-intensive one-year course of study to get students who have fallen behind back on track to graduate from high school instead of dropping out. The program includes math, English, science, and history classes, but a collaboration with the Shelby County Arts Council could add much-needed arts, cultural and career enrichment for DAY Program students. Thus, Discover DAY was born. Presently, Discover DAY enrichment sessions are held once per quarter and have included drum circle therapy and a songwriting course, as well as a Law Enforcement Day to introduce students to modern-day law enforcement technology used by the Shelby County Sheriff”s Office and the Pelham and Alabaster police departments. The next session is planned for early 2019.
The new DAY Program director, Christy Hayes, is thrilled that the Shelby County Arts Council is adding the much-needed enrichment programs that the DAY Program curriculum was lacking.