Spring promises new partnerships, and a look ahead to an exciting summer!
By Brie Zeltner
Youthcast Media Group®
Spring is a time of growth and change, and as an avid gardener, it’s my favorite time of year. While there’s still a month or more before us northern Ohio folks can get out and start planting (sigh!), there’s plenty to keep me busy– and excited!-- at YMG.
We wrapped up a successful fall workshop with two outstanding solutions-based stories about how communities are closing the racial wealth gap. The first, about efforts in Philadelphia, was published in Billy Penn in February. Shortly after it came out, the non-profit featured, birdSEED, told us that they’d received applicants for their down payment assistance grants who heard about the program from our students’ story. Amazing.
The second story, a national look at efforts to address the racial wealth gap, is now being considered for publication by the Miami Herald. Stay tuned for more on that!
Also in February, we launched our first Canva class in collaboration with ReadyCT and Weaver High School journalism students in Hartford. During their winter break, nine students learned to use Canva to make social media posts, and several of them have been featured on our social media in the past few weeks.
The program was a huge success, with outstanding feedback from students and journalism teacher Oshane Thorpe. It went so well, in fact, that we’re heading back there for another round in mid-April, with 12 new students!
Speaking of new beginnings and growth… YMG welcomed a new employee in late February, our recent Mizzou grad and documentary film producer, Kyndall Hubbard, who is our new Editorial Assistant. You can get to know Kyndall better in this newsletter– check out her conversation with YMG intern Hermes Falcon.
And psst… for more about our exciting summer plans, check out Jayne’s letter!
Wishing you all a warm, sunny spring. And for those of you who love the garden as much as I, may your fingernails be ever-dirty!
