Youth Education Organizer
Organization:
Center for Digital Storytelling VISTA Name:
Carrie Cook
Program Start:
1/2008
Program End:
7/2009
Project Description:
Our AmeriCorps*VISTA member will help develop capacity for CDS ongoing educational work with classroom-based and after-school programs serving low income communities nationally and in the Bay Area and nationally. Some of their tasks will include:
a)Building the online capacity for workshops for CDS’ after school work in StoryMapping (see storymapping.org),
b)helping to develop the Youth Digital Storytelling Cookbook, handouts and curriculum materials, and
c)developing curriculum with workshops in collaboration with youth afterschool organizations emphasizing literacy, writing and technology including 826Valencia/826National and Youth Speaks.
Project Outcome:
Carrie Cook Carrie has focused on developing our internal systems that support expanding services to low-income individuals. She has developed our tutorial for embedding digital stories in community maps and assisted with the development of digital stories for a Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based project supporting residents of low-income housing. She has also been involved with developing outreach materials for the silence speaks project and a blog for educators who are implementing skills learned in our workshops in their classrooms. The blog will allow them to more effectively utilize digital storytelling with their stories. In addition, she supported website development and local event organizing for the International Day for Telling Life Stories. She will also participate in strengthening our internal digital story archiving system.
Impact Quote:
“Both Carrie and Laura have demonstrated a collaborative spirit and have used their technical expertise to support our organization’s mission. In particular, their knowledge of Web 2.0 technologies is an asset to an organization in which staff have differing levels of experience with both newer web technologies. They are both invaluable in terms of training staff in how to use the technology and being able to offer ideas about the potential of the technology for improving our services. […] Carrie has utilized the knowledge base with which she came to CDS to strengthen our program structures and increase our resources and the effectiveness of our programs. She has been especially helpful in setting up new computers, creating a ‘storywalk’ tutorial and supporting the development of outreach materials.”
- Andrea Spagat, supervisor