It is amazing the stories and insight you hear from youth when you give them a chance to speak and know somebody is authentically listening.
As a Instructional Editor and Broadcast Producer Manager, I helped disadvantaged youth amplify their voice to empower their community and themselves.
For three years I helped at-risk youth find and hone their voice while supporting ambitious teens in an environment of journalistic standards.
At SPOT 127 Youth Media Center, an award winning community service, I served as “editor-in-chief” overseeing all aspects of story production, from pitch to publication. I developed most of the editorial platforms and processes to foster a newsroom like atmosphere. Also, I managed two instructional facilitators who were media professionals with educational backgrounds. While they focused on technical instruction on video, audio, and photography, I taught students the story process, from how to identify a good story to then editing down to get under time. Although only some students went onto journalism school, we were able to support most toward college, and all to finding their unique way of using their voice to tell stories often unheard.
SPOT 127 youth media highlights under my direction
SPOT 127 Media
I organized and housed all student media on SPOT 127’s YouTube page. From August of 2017 to May 2020, just about every piece of media on here passed through my editorial review. We published every student piece and worked with youth to get their individual best.
SPOT on Dating
We were awarded a $100K grant from the Hickey Family Foundation to produce a media series about Teen Relationship Violence. We worked with community organizations and over a year produced a mixed media series covering almost every aspect of healthy relationships.
SPOT on Bullying
We were awarded a $30K grant from the Aetna Foundation to produce another series, this time about bullying. Again working with organizations, we organized student to research and pitch a diverse range of media stories to help expose modern bullying in ways not often seen.
