2011 CITY STORIES

PHOTO GALLERY

In its third summer, City Stories is a hands-on camp for the city's youth run by Y-Press.

The goal is to encourage young people to tell the stories about their communities using two ways — audio slideshows and creative writing. This year during the first 10-day session, two IPS teachers observed and participated in the camp in order to understand audio slideshow development. They will develop lesson plans for teachers, which will be available on Y-Press’s website later this summer.

During camp, the first week is spent learning how to photograph, how to collect sound, how to meet and greet a potential interviewee, how to write questions and how to use observation to improve creative writing.

Not only did young people at Hawthorne Community Center and Concord Neighborhood Center learn from Y-Press journalists, but they were able to learn from professionals -- Indianapolis Star photographer Danese Kenon taught the photography lessons. Y-Press adult staff supported the teams while working in the neighborhood to find the best stories.

During the second week, youth teams fanned out and used these newly developed skills to produce audio slideshows about businesses or individuals who benefit the neighborhood.
 

You can watch the 9 additional audio slideshows here. 
 

But the campers were not the only ones learning. Workshops in advance of the camps helped Y-Press journalists improve their photography skills, recording expertise and navigate Soundslides Pro, an audio slideshow program.

Thanks also to Freddi Steven-Jacobi for leading journalists' photography workshop and Colleen Iudice for teaching both the intricacies of the recorder and audio slideshow programming. 

The 2011 City Stories camps were hosted by two community centers  -- Hawthorne Community Center on the Westside and Concord Neighborhood Center on city’s Southside.

The camps were funded by the Summer Youth Program Fund, a collaborative effort of local and national funders who support summer programming for Marion County youth.
 

Check out an additional article about summer learning and City Stories on the What Kids Can Do website from the 2010 camps.

Copyright 2011 Y-Press