May 10, 2010
Local youth are working at Voices to produce radio segments, articles, and videos that document real-life stories. Mentors and creative professionals provide the platform to share their work and help them become active and engaged participants in the community.
Voices, Community Stories Past and Present, Inc.,
works with young people to help them document the stories of their community. The objective is that they will be inspired to explore themselves and their connection their environment.
Katie Gindelsparger is the writing director at Voices, and she says that youth today have a lot to say and sometimes they just need a little help and guidance through the creative process of articulating a story. “At voices we believe that youth are great media makers, consumers, and producers,” she says as she talks about the mission of the non-profit organization. She points out that “digital natives,” those generations that have grown up on-line, plugged into media from an early age, already feel comfortable navigating multiple communication platforms. At Voices they obtain guidance in all the steps of the creative process, and help in finding an audience.
José Morgan is a high school student who wrote, produced, and directed the short documentary titled The Last Day at the DeAnza. “The thing is that that was the one shot to get all the good stuff because that was the last night and then that was it,” he says of the one-night shooting schedule. Morgan’s film was recently honored for best documentary, and best film, at the MLK Film Projét Film Festival.
An important part of the work that occurs at Voices is finding audiences for the stories produced by the youth. “We operate a little like a ‘wire service,’” says Gindlesparger. The objective is to find a publication home for the work that is created, and to allow an adult audience to connect with the well articulated voice of media producers such as Jose Morgan. Publication homes include this AZPM website, our television channel, our radio station KUAZ, and other newspapers, and web sites.
Katie points out that every kid goes through an interview and in the selection process can be competitive. She makes it a point that the students are not expected to have extensive skills when they come in but they are required to have a “passion for telling stories,” and they have to have a story to tell.
The stories are diverse and often personal, and you will be able to find them on this website as part of an ongoing media partnership between Arizona Public Media, and Voices, Community Stories Past and Present, Inc.
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