January 12, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
A network of more than 1,000 local technology organizations has awarded grants of $20,000 each to eight charities for their after-school programs.
The Community Technology Centers’ Network, in Washington, awarded the money as part of its Youth Visions for Stronger Neighborhoods project, which encourages civic participation among young people through the creative use of technology. The program receives financial support from Learn and Serve America, a division of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
For six months, the charities work with young people as they interview and survey their family members, peers, and other residents who live in their neighborhoods to identify issues of concern. Then the youths will conduct research about the problems and create multimedia presentations of their findings, which they can use to engage local government officials, business leaders, and others in a discussion of potential solutions to the problems.
Last year, students at the Ark, an after-school program in a public-housing development in Troy, N.Y., focused on the strained relationship between residents and security staff members. Seventy-five people, both residents and security personnel, attended a screening of the video the students produced.
Grant recipients for 2006 include Appalshop: Appalachian Media Institute (Whitesburg, Ky.), Beyondmedia Education: Girls! Action! Media! (Chicago), the Chinatown Beacon Center (San Francisco), DANEnet and Atwood Community Center (Madison, Wisc.), Deproduction: The [denverevolution] Production Group (Denver), EducationWorks: Germantown Beacon Center (Philadelphia), the Media Aid Center (Los Angeles), and Wide Angle Community Media (Baltimore).
For more information: Go to http://www.ctcnet.org/youthvisions.
