Youth Media Curriculum Development
Organization:
Portland Community Media VISTA Name:
Nickey Robare
Program Start:
7/2008
Program End:
7/2009
Project Description:
The Oregon Learning Lab for Information Education (OLLIE) serves approximately 400 Portland-area youth ages 10 to18 annually. The Initiative is provided in collaboration with MetroEast Community Media, a sister community media organization serving east Multnomah County, combining the considerable youth media expertise of both organizations. Portland Community Media serves as the administrative organization.
OLLIE is a media education program that integrates media and technology literacy with core academic and community learning in classrooms and after-school programs. In each OLLIE project, participants plan and create works of video based on their academic curriculum or community learning focus.
The OLLIE Youth Media VISTA will work with the OLLIE coordinator, educators from Portland Community Media and MetroEast Community Media, and area schools and community centers to meet the goals of the OLLIE project.
Activities include:
- Working with the project staff to develop project curriculum, youth and community outreach efforts (including website), local and national distribution, and evaluation practices
- Establishing ongoing youth involvement opportunities at the media centers
- Building a volunteer and internship program to support the project
- Learning and training others to teach project curriculum and equipment
- Participating in OLLIE Youth Media productions as a media educator
Project Outcome:
Nickey’s first success with OLLIE came during the culmination of our Moving Images summer workshop – a community screening event. Nickey leveraged her community connections and communication skills to secure donations from local businesses to support the event. She also assisted in a larger campaign to promote the event, which brought over 100 community members to Portland Community Media to watch and discuss videos created by 16 local youth. As a part of her larger efforts to develop ongoing youth involvement activities at the media centers, Nickey has undertaken a research project designed to understand community needs and best practices from other organizations. She has compiled interviews from youth media educators and facilitators from our parent organizations, as well as other local and national youth media projects. As a part of her work with OLLIE Youth Media Nickey has spent time in the field, getting to know the young people, teachers, and organizations we serve. She has excelled at motivating our students to express their ideas though video. Nickey also has made connections between OLLIE and other organizations, encouraging collaboration and outreach for the program.
Nickey has been a great addition to the OLLIE Youth Media team and is still working on several projects. Recently she has done some design work for the project that will be used for program promotion.