REACH Youth Media Project

The REACH Youth Media Project created a venue for youth to engage communities. The project enlisted diverse youth teams comprised of three to five members representing four of the seven initial REACH Community Action coalitions. Participating youth captured their voices and the voices of other youth surrounding a topic of personal interest and relevance in documentaries led, produced and directed by youth.

The REACH Youth Media Project teams unveiled their documentaries at a showcase on May 22, 2009, at the Guild Theater in the Sacramento community of Oak Park. The audience included REACH coalition members, parents and media. The showcase displayed the work, dedication, research and creativity of the REACH Youth Media teams, and validated the value and power of youth-led documentaries. Read more about the REACH Youth Media showcase in REACH e-news.

Documentaries

• Galt - Small City, Big Problem: What Would You Do About It?
• Meadowview - Lack of Role Models
• South Sacramento - Education Depletion
• Woodland - Open Your Eyes:Teen Pregnancy

The REACH Youth Media Project aimed to represent the power of data-driven community change by supporting youth-produced stories. The REACH Youth Media Project focused on:

• Teaching documentary video as a means to develop the artistic, critical thinking, literacy and career skills of young people, while nurturing their idealism and commitment to social change
• Forging stronger partnerships between youth and adults
• Creating more ways for non-traditional student involvement
• Supporting student-led research
• Academic success – helping youth to develop a broad base of knowledge, as well as problem solving and analytical skills