DATE: 6/12/07

WRITER/CONTACT: Pam Bryant, (803) 553-7705; pbryant@clemson.edu

YLI hosts Media, Literacy and Civic Engagement Summer Institute

PICKENS – This week teams of high school teachers and students are participating in a residential summer institute to learn the use of video documentary and multi-media techniques to become civic leaders of community change.

Clemson University 's Youth Learning Institute, located at 698 Concord Church Rd. in Pickens, is a partner and host to the week-long Media, Literacy and Civic Engagement Summer Institute, which ends Friday. 

The first known institute of its kind to be hosted in the Upstate, the program brings together some of the nation's leading experts in video production focused on community change. 

Five teams, each made up of one teacher and three students from Pickens and Greenville Counties , will spend the week learning to use digital video cameras, documentary techniques, interviewing and writing skills, and will be guided in choosing community issues and topics to document.

Teams will put their knowledge to test on Wednesday, when they visit the Pickens Flea Market to conduct man-on-the-street interviews and capture video footage to produce their first documentaries. Parents will attend a special screening on Friday when the documentaries will be shown. 

The week-long institute serves as the launch pad for continued student engagement toward community change. The goal is to equip and empower students to use video documentaries to generate awareness and lead discussions centered on important civic topics in their home communities.

During the upcoming school year, student teams are expected to produce five video documentaries for public viewing that will engage parents along with leaders in the civic, business, government and education communities.

Co-facilitators for the summer institute are Betsy Newman, an award-winning producer and multi-media content developer with SCETV, and Amy Melnick with the Educational Video Center , a  community-based media organization in  New York  that teaches social documentary production and media analysis to youth and educators. The summer institute utilizes new curricula produced by EVC called Youth-Powered Video and Teaching Youth Media. 

In addition, students will be instructed using Writing to Make a Difference: Classroom Projects for Community Change, a nationally recognized curriculum edited by C. Benson, S. Christian, D. Goswami and W. Gooch.

Collaborative partners responsible for developing and delivering the program include: Clemson University Youth Learning Institute; Write to Change, Inc.; Jim Self Center on the Future at Clemson's Strom Thurmond Institute; and the School District of Pickens County. 

Participating teams are as follows:

Greenville High School , Greenville County :

Shannon Gibbs, teacher

Jessica Lyles, 9th grade

Tommy Cole, 9th grade

Tyrell Pearson, 9th grade

Liberty High School , Pickens County :

Yvonne Mayo, teacher

Kayla Suverkrubbe, 9th grade

Meghan King, 10th grade 

Daniel Castillo, 9th grade

Kristy Brooks, teacher

Ashlee Kay, 9th grade

Cassy Fisher, 9th grade 

Stan Gilstrap, 9th grade 

B.J. Skelton Career Center , Pickens County :

Tim Hiott, teacher

Matt Craven, 10th grade

Jessica Westbrooks, 10th grade

Christopher Gilstrap, 10th grade

Easley High School , Pickens County :

Larry Clark, teacher

Summer Golightly, 9th grade

Brandon McCreight, 9th

Chadrick Owen, 9th

For more information, contact Pam Bryant at (803) 553-7705 or pbryant@clemson.edu

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