This summer, Y-Press, an Indianapolis-based, youth-media organization, teamed up with Second Story, an urban creative writing program, to offer two free journalism camps for the city’s youth.
Called City Stories, each camp’s goal was to encourage young people to tell the stories of their communities in two ways — through journalism and poetry.
During the two-week camps, Week One was spent teaching photography skills, learning how to collect sound and learning how observation improves creative writing. Not only did campers learn from Y-Press journalists, but Indianapolis Star photographer Danese Kenon taught photography lessons. In addition, Y-Press and Second Story adult staff supported during the creative process. In Week Two, youth divided into teams and used these newly developed skills to produce audio slideshows about businesses, services or individuals who benefit their neighborhoods.
You can watch the 10 additional slideshows here.
In advance of the camps, Y-Press journalists improved their photography skills in a workshop led by Freddi Steven-Jacobi. City Stories camp was hosted by two locations: North United Methodist Church at 38th and Meridian streets and West Indy’s Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center at 1920 West Morris Street. The camps were funded by the Summer Youth Program Fund, a collaborative effort among 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.