SPNN Youth

On the sunny afternoon of Saturday, April 27th, the Set It Up crew descended upon the Canvas Teen Arts Center to participate in the Teen Art Showcase, which took place as a part of the St. Paul Art Crawl. Set It Up kicked off the program by screening their second episode of the season - a series of videos on Relationships. This was followed by some excellent live music performances and an Open Mic. On top of that, there was tons of visual art on display, and creativity everywhere you turned. 

We're happy to introduce the newest member of the SPNN Youth team, Kao Choua Vue, who will be serving as our Youth Projects Coordinator. Kao Choua Vue is an independent documentary filmmaker and has worked in youth media for 7 years. She enjoys youth media because she believes it's an important tool that empowers youth  and gives them a voice. She received a B.A. in Urban Studies from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, with a focus on the cultural and social aspects of cities.

A diverse collection of youth produced media from 12 different TCYMN partners was screened in Intermedia’s theater space. The reel was entirely curated by youth participants at member organizations. SPNN Youth Set It Up alum Damian Jones took home this year’s audience choice award for his documentary short, ‘Fong Lee: The Story of Tragedy and Injustice.’ Damian’s piece examines a wrongful death suit against the Minneapolis Police Department over the death of teenager Fong Lee, who was shot down by Police Officer Jason Anderson, who claimed self-defense in the case. The audience choice award for best radio piece went to Cynthia Ramsey from KFAI Fresh Air Radio for her piece, ‘My Experience in the Foster Care System.”

In late 2011, we were very excited to learn that we had received a matching grant challenge for $10,000 from the F.R. Bigelow Foundation for SPNN Youth. The grant spurred us into action for the Equipping SPNN Youth Campaign, a campaign intended to fully fund the equipment needs of SPNN Youth for the next five years. Ensuring we have up to date equipment allows us to better serve the youth in our community , creating a comfortable and technologically-current place for youth to learn.

Set It Up celebrated the start of Season 13 with photo fun, lots of tacos, and a room full of excited family and friends. Read about how this year more than ever the crew had to learn how to work together in order to tell and present their own stories. 

By Andrew Lonnes, Set It Up Assistant Coordinator, long-time SPNN Youth Programs participant

Each year, the YMCA Youth in Government program brings together more than 1,500 youth from all over the state of Minnesota to participate in a large mock government experience (also known as the Model Assembly) at the Hilton in downtown Minneapolis. And each year, SPNN Youth is there, assisting young people as they create an impressive array of daily news programs over the course of the weekend. This year, two former participants in SPNN Youth programs, Breon from Set It Up and Megan from the Youth Intern Program, worked as mentors assisting the YIG producers.

This fall, we've been excited to have two young people working at SPNN through local employment programs geared to help low income teens and young adults build employment skills (YouthLead and Youth Job Corps). One of them is a new face, and another is a regular.