BEP, Nissan to Present “Arts for Education: An Elegant Evening”

The Business Education Partnership Foundation and  presenting sponsor Nissan North America are proud to announce an exciting event celebrating “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”  with “Arts for Education: An Elegant Evening” on Friday, February 24th from 6-9 pm at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, located at 3050 Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro. 

Guests at the event will be treated to fine dining and live entertainment.  “An Elegant Evening” will feature The Tennessee Valley Winds as well as jazz by singer Kristen Hubbard and guitarist Sam Frazee in addition to hip hop dance performances from The Cat Cru of CAT Choreography. Cuisine will be presented by Smyrna High school’s award-winning culinary arts program.

A silent auction will feature art and specialty services as well as travel and entertainment packages.  Artwork shown and auctioned at this event will include the winning pieces from an all-county juried student art competition, as well as the works of local artists.  Additionally, a limited number of raffle tickets will be sold at $50 each for a chance to win a $5000 cash prize. 

Proceeds from “Arts for Education: An Elegant Evening” will provide funding for BEP programming such as teacher mini-grants and professional development training for teachers in curriculum/work relevance to help bring the real world into the classroom.

The BEP is a 22 year-old 501(c)(3) foundation with the mission to foster interest in and to promote and to support programs in the public schools of the city of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County that will prepare students for the business world.  Programming includes BEP/Nissan Teacher Mini-Grants, State Farm Summer Business Camp, and Youth Leadership Rutherford, among others.

BEP Executive Director Lee Rennick is enthusiastic about the event, and believes it is an opportunity for the community to invest in the education of Rutherford County’s future leaders and workforce.  “Proceeds from last year’s event allowed the Business Education Partnership Foundation to provide professional development training to over 50 third through twelfth grade teachers about math and science curriculum relevance in the real world. Recent research by the Office of Consumer Research at MTSU has provided us with proof of the direct positive effect this training has in classrooms and in student performance. We hope to reach more teachers and classrooms this year by having an even more successful event!” she said.

Sponsors who are helping the Business Education Partnership make “An Elegant Evening” possible are, of course, presenting sponsor Nissan North America, Middle Tennessee Medical Center, Yates Services, Textile Fabric Consultants, Inc., Quality Industries, Ascend Federal Credit Union, Pinnacle Financial Partners, and WWL Vehicle Services Americas, Inc.

Sponsorships are still available at these levels: Rembrandt ($5000); Van Gogh ($2,500); Picasso ($1,000); and Warhol ($500).  Individual tickets to “An Elegant Evening” are $75, and tables of eight are $600.  Tickets must be purchased by February 20^th.

Additional information on the Business Education Partnership can be found online at www.rutherfordbep.org. For tickets and sponsorships, contact Gabi Brockelsby at (615) 556-1949, or email her at gabibrockelsby@yahoo.com.  For information on the raffle, please call Jesse FitzGerald at (615) 278-2012.