“Can I Kick It?”: Youth Movement through Media Institute

Launched by the National Black Programming Consortium, the Public Media Corps (PMC) is a new national public media service that helps local stations to forge relationships with underserved communities through content production, local events, and digital media training. As a PMC local station, Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) aimed to address the dropout crisis in Jackson by capturing youth voices and implementing digital media arts clubs in several local high schools, including Wingfield High School, Provine High School, Lanier High School, and Callaway High School.

The Public Media Corps of Jackson had the following goals:

• Recruit, train, and support high school students in telling their stories and establishing digital media arts clubs in their schools;
• Utilize emerging technologies to capture the voices of the community;
• Engage students and the community around the needs for dropout prevention;
• Address critical community needs and issues;
• Foster student leadership development and content production;
• Encourage student interest in public broadcasting careers;
• And create additional partnerships for sustainability.

MPB partnered with The Young People’s Project (YPP), United Way of the Capital Area, the Children’s Defense Fund Southern Regional Office, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Tougaloo College Owens Health and Wellness Center to achieve these goals. Through this collaboration, the Public Media Corps (PMC) of Jackson has given a much-needed voice to students in the community to address their concerns, obstacles, and successes. Not only students, but also the surrounding community, engaged to discuss and combat the dropout crisis and other areas of concern such as zero tolerance, suspension, state testing, literacy, and community involvement. The students conducted interviews in their neighborhoods and among their peers to obtain various perspectives on the importance of education.

Students were trained in the areas of production, digital literacy and storytelling, community engagement, and leadership development during a four-week summer institute at MPB in July 2012.  The Institute was available to 50 local high school students, who worked in teams and developed mini-documentary projects.  The students edited their pieces for the final production and held a viewing event to showcase their work to the community. In addition, the students established digital media arts clubs in their high schools and continue to create content and engage the community throughout the 2012-2013 school year.

Partners & Collaborators:

Mississippi Public Broadcasting

United Way of the Capital Area

The Young People’s Project

Children’s Defense Fund Southern Regional Office

Southern Poverty Law Center

Tougaloo College Owens Health and Wellness Center

Mississippi State Conference NAACP