MNN & GW's Media High School Partnership Focuses on Next Gen Storytellers
From Parkland, Florida, to Ferguson, Missouri, young people are increasingly making their voices heard and changing the media narrative.
A new partnership between the MNN El Barrio Firehouse Community Media Center and the High School for Media and Communications (HSMC) in Washington Heights (part of George Washington Educational Campus) is aiming to bolster these new voices by giving high school students access to high tech media production tools and training.
During the February school break, the two organizations are partnering to offer a week-long video production and TV studio training for HSMC students and staff at MNN’s state-of-the-art community media facility in East Harlem.
“Training the next generation of mediamakers is what we’re all about,” said Zenaida Mendez, Director of the MNN El Barrio Firehouse Community Media Center. “So this partnership is a perfect match and we’re excited to have a talented group of students and teachers here with us.”
The partnership comes as HSMC is building out their own in-house TV studio. In order to prepare the students and teachers, MNN enrolled the first cohort of 14 sophomores, juniors and teachers in MNN’s studio production course this week.
“Partnering with MNN allows us to offer students an education that goes beyond the books. Our students will be able to use technology and will leave high school with some sort of technical know-how,” said Juan Rosa, Community School Director with Catholic Charities.
Students and staff will continue to take courses at MNN throughout the year and since the school has a large group of native Spanish speakers, these classes will be taught by MNN’s bilingual instructors to ensure that its the best learning environment for everyone.
Once their studio is ready in September, HSMC will use the space to create more hands-on learning opportunities for their students and MNN will continue to partner with HSMC in supporting the next generation of mediamakers.
