Thinking ahead about the final project, I have a general idea that I am excited about as to where I would like to go with it. As one of the few people in our class that does not work with a group of students in a classroom setting traditionally, I wanted to use this opportunity to further plan for a future goal that I am working towards. My final project parallels Katies' final project from 2020 from the slide deck; so seeing their project and hearing their process gives me confidence in going this route. Similar to Katie, I too was a Communications major for my undergrad here at RIC, with a passion for journalism, sports entertainment and all forms of media creation. While pivoting to a career in youth work and now in higher education, I believe that students of all ages learn better through hands on participation. Today, students are actively participating and developing real tangible skills without understanding the depth of what they are doing without being "taught" or "guided". TikTok dances, thats basic and in some cases more advanced choreography. Games like Roblox and Minecraft with servers where youth can create are variations of coding, while also holding platform for social communities. From my experiences working at Shea High School and Blackstone Academy Charter for 6 years, I encountered more students with interests and passions for content creation, students with $600 mirrorless DSLR cameras, students making decent money taking photos and making mixtapes for athletes across the state than I could have imagined. This was surely more than were around when I graduated from high school in 2012. Through my roles coaching basketball at Shea and Tolman High School, I connected with the Tolman Media Club, where I met students like Justin DeCosta (current PA Announcer for RIFC Soccer and In-Arena Host for PC Mens Hockey and Women's Basketball) who were developing these talents on their own and showcasing them through the then @TTN.Sports instagram page (which later has evolved to @onepawtucket). Meeting students with not only these interests, but the natural talent and creative mind to excel in careers in communications and digital media has inspired me to foster that creation.
I envision as I approach the end of my Masters in the upcoming Spring, I plan to begin to develop my own out of school program / non-profit for high school students in Rhode Island with interests in digital media, content creation, journalism, and careers in the field. An inspiration behind this is me being a coach in Rhode Island and my interactions with media in the state. (specifically ProJo, me and their sports department have a love/hate relationship. It's a long story lol.) Nonetheless, ProJo Sports department is understaffed and under-resourced, a far cry from the days I grew up in where you could get the in print box scores for every high school game in the state the next morning. Now with Projo write-ups behind a paywall, I have always advocated for somewhere information and stats, boxscores, interviews to live. I would like to fill that void and develop students in their respective high schools to become young journalists in training developing "The Network" of young journalists across Rhode Island covering the RIIL.
Students will be able to develop writing samples, learn and develop their media voice, as well as getting on camera and behind the camera experience. In a perfect world, down the line possibly this program can grow into a program similar to Upward Bound here at Rhode Island College; allowing students the opportunity to take Early Enrollment Courses in Communications or related courses at RIC that align with the program, while allowing them to stay on campus and utilize high level facilities like RIC's Television Studio. Building a community of youth across the state of like minded creatives can also assist in the social development of youth ages 14-18 and exposing them to individuals from other communities and interests. I hope I can use this course and final project as an opportunity to develop and flush out this idea further.
Also, if you happen to read this blog post please let me know your thoughts on the idea. Good, bad or indifferent. I value all feedback and am open to any and all ideas. "The Network" is a workshop name right now, open to any ideas there too!
