Youth Programs at CCTV

Fighting the Good Fight Summer Media Institute mov | wmv | mpg

The Summer Media Institute
CCTV’s Summer Media Institute (SMI) has been running strong at CCTV for the past 16 years. Each year, the SMI serves as a work site for youth accepted into the Cambridge Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program, and is aimed at teaching video production and job skills. In the past, the SMI was one of the few programs at CCTV geared exclusively to serving teens, but in 2006, CCTV began a year round Youth Media Program. The new Youth Media Program is comprised of two components: the Summer Media Institute (SMI) and the School Year Production Program (SYPP).

The 2006 SMI ran from July 10th through August 18th, led by Program Coordinator Matt Landry, and Shaun Clarke, who joined staff for the third year as Lead Trainer. Former SMI participants Mario Davila and Jeanette Holland took on new roles as Youth Trainers, co-teaching workshops and facilitating production groups.

SMI participants worked 20 hours during each week of the six-week program, attending video production workshops concentrating on camera use, lighting, audio and editing. They also attended job skills workshops coordinated by the Mayor’s Program. This year’s SMI participants were once again a diverse mix of Cambridge youth with different levels of experience in video production. Ona Anosike and Andrew Keplin each completed their second year in the program, while Alexandra Berke, Nick Bruce, Ricardo Melo, Lexi Conceicao, Genny Cayford, Alex Ayabe, Zack Goldhammer and Cody Romano joined the SMI for the first time. The youth produced 30 projects, including ten music videos and three short documentaries on student rights. The summer program culminated in a screening of their work on August 17th.

The School Year Production Program
In October, CCTV launched the School Year Production Program (SYPP), providing teens with a chance to deepen video production and job skills gained in the Summer Media Institute. CCTV’s Director of Marketing and Development, Clodagh Rule and Youth Trainer Mario Davila worked with SYPP participants Cody Romano, Ricardo Melo, Max Lewontin, and Emily Sidis on three major projects. Digital stories were created in “Passport to East Cambridge,” a collaboration between SYPP participants, students from Cambridge Rindge and Latin and Lesley University, the East End House and Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center (CMAC); the stories became part of an exhibit at CMAC. SYPP participants also planned and produced the 2006 Halloween Show for CCTV, a live to tape studio shoot featuring a Halloween celebration involving children from Cambridge. Finally, the participants produced a short promotional video for CCTV, geared at educating Cambridge residents on how to use CCTV’s Big Studio to produce television programs.