Joel Mejia, Director
The Fund for the City of New York/The Dare to Dream Project
Joel Mejia, Director of The Fund for the City of New York, describes how the Dare to Dream Project transformed their website into a social network to better connect students from low-income communities who are dedicated to creating and sharing their own media content.
The Dare to Dream Project is a youth media program that was started in 2007 after noticing that youth were making wonderful content and expressing their views in a very sophisticated way. After obtaining fiscal sponsorship from The Fund for the City of New York, I began to ponder on the best ways to create a community around the concept of youth media and promote more use of new media like social networks and video sharing sites in education. The Dare to Dream Project began to develop an ambitious plan to improve the use of new media in the classroom among educators and students in a more positive, creative, and engaging way. Part of that plan was to transform the official website for the youth media program into a social network that plans to develop connections between youth from all over New York State with their global counterparts. Through the growing participation of youth, as well as educators, parents and artists, we can have a strong community of advocates for programs like the Dare to Dream Project and others. The social network is also a very effective tool in spreading viral media with information about the program’s various events like the Dare to Dream Media and Arts Festival and the Voices of New York Speak! Youth Media Conference and Benefit, both produced by the organization and its other partners.
Other popular social media tools like myspace and facebook are part of our outreach strategy, with over 50 members joining the Dare to Dream facebook group within weeks of its launch.
Students that are currently enrolled in the Dare to Dream Project mainly come from low-income communities. Outside of the program, their access to camera equipment, sound gear, or even a laptop is limited or non-existent. Once the students get a camera in their hands or start editing footage, they are often more engaged and focused. Their exploration of controversial topics create lively discussions and growth in them is quickly visible. Students have fun creating their own content and sharing it with others online. This project based learning model builds the skills these students need for the global economy, instilling the idea that there is a greater world out there beyond the four corners of their neighborhood, and that there are other young people like them. Information and technology are exciting areas of the future and simply put, our youth are the future and we must ensure they are prepared for the world ahead.
CHECK OUT OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/VOICESOFNY
Things Are Changing Media/The Dare to Dream Project
www.thingsarechanging.com | www.daretodream-newyork.org
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