SPNN Youth Produced PSA wins second place in Citizens League contest: (from Citizens League press release)

The Citizens League announced today that St. Paul students Steve Lewer, 18; Mark Gwen, 15; and Aubri Jackson, 13; were awarded second place for their video Youth Spaces PSA in the "I am Minnesota's Future Video Contest."

In honor of Minnesota's sesquicentennial this year, the Citizens League launched the Minnesota Anniversary Project (MAP 150) to look ahead to the state's next 150 years. This contest asked young people to create short videos answering: "What kind of state do you want to live in when you're an adult, and what do you think ought to be done to make sure that happens?" Students responded with video entries that addressed issues ranging from global warming to immigration, from peace to technology and opportunities for young people.

Contestants were asked to address what legacy they would like today's policy makers to leave for them. All the videos can be found on the sponsoring site, www.studentsspeakout.org, as well as YouTube.

These students created this video at SPNN in collaboration with St. Paul Connections. For more information about St. Paul Connections career exploration courses please contact Steve Wojta at 651-221-1446 / Stephen.wojta@spps.org or visit www.connections.spps.org.

This past summer, three girls from SPNN's Youth Intern Program (YIP)-Daryll Berg, Dedrian Davis, and Bao Yang-formed a team to make a short documentary about the negative impact of media images on girls' self-esteem. Coming from different backgrounds, the three girls came up with this topic as something they all could relate to and wanted to explore. The film, titled Girls and the Media, screened at Walker Art Center's Girls in the Director's Chair Film Showcase this spring.

Now, Girls and the Media has been selected to be part of Project Girl, the nationally touring visual arts exhibition designed to defend adolescent girls from the harmful effects of media messages. Project Girl presents an amazing and unique opportunity for these young filmmakers to share their work and engage with others around the issue of girls and the media. For more info about this exhibit, go to www.intermediaarts.org.

Two SPNN Youth documentaries screened Friday, May 23rd at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis during the .edu Film Festival. The festival was "Minnesota's first school sponsored, state-wide film festival, featuring short films written, shot, edited, and scored by high-school filmmakers." Hundreds of youth producers from around the state made their way to the Parkway for the festival.

Unidentified Black Male: A Look at Racial Profiling in Saint Paul and Girls in the Media, both produced during the 2007 Youth Intern Program were shown along with eleven other youth produced documentaries during the festival's morning session. Unidentified Black Male also received "Special Mention" in the documentary category!

Congratulations filmmakers!

SPNN's Real Reality TV spring class filmed some great PSA's and you can check out all the action at their blog! Find out what the youth participants learned, what they thought of the class and how they tackled their topics. These films will premiere on YTV on Monday May 5th at 7:30 PM, and continue airing on Mondays for the rest of the month.

TOPICS:

"Music and How it Degrades Women group"
"Youth Spaces"

REAL REALITY TV BLOG