Teens Take the Camera: How Videography Can Elevate Youth Voices
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[Through the videography course] not only did our students learn new ways to express themselves and demonstrate their understanding of lessons learned in TPP… they were able to utilize real-world marketing skills resulting in them obtaining a summer internship and employment year-round. It is our hope that these newly gained skills will inspire and inform their career paths, and deter any actions that might otherwise derail their academic and vocational goals.Newton B. Sanon, President and CEO, OIC of South Florida
By establishing community advisory groups and youth leadership councils (YLC), Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) programs can center youth voices, strengthen participant engagement, and cultivate leaders. The OIC of South Florida is a TPP Program grantee that serves as a community-based workforce, job development, and training organization. They equip their YLC members with tools and training that they can use to express themselves, communicate with their peers, build their skill sets, and positively impact their community.
OIC’s latest effort to empower the members of their YLC was a 4-week intensive course on video production, which occurred during the 2020-21 program year. Students met three days per week for 90 minutes for hands-on training and demonstration of Adobe Premiere Pro, an advanced video editing software. At the end of the class, the youth competed in a contest to create a video that captures their experience in the YLC over the past year. The winner received a $250 gift card and their video will be published for internal and external use. Furthermore, all students who participated in the class will have an opportunity to enhance their video production skills through a paid summer internship. The videos that youth created will be released this Spring; subscribe to OIC’s YouTube channel to stay up-to-date.
OIC of South Florida is also elevating youth voices by encouraging them to generate bite-sized video content for TikTok. Though still in the early stages of development, OIC’s TikTok HALLWAZE series will cover topics like social media, bullying, and self love.
For more tips on working with YLCs, check out the Overview of the Characteristics of the TPP Program Community Advisory Group and Youth Leadership Council job aid and the archived Working with Community Advisory Groups and Youth Leadership Councils Webinar.