2019 CIIP Program Book CIIP Booklet 2019 | Page 52

Community Partner: Wide Angle
Youth Media
Intern: Emma Elias
Site Supervisor: Tia Price
What is Wide Angle Youth Me-
dia?
Through media arts education,
Wide Angle Youth Media culti-
vates and amplifies the voices
of Baltimore youth to engage
audiences across generational,
cultural, and social divides. Our
programs inspire creativity and
instill confidence in young peo-
ple, empowering them with skills
to navigate school, career, and
life.
“I hear you.” I’ve heard these words countless times emanating from the office of my amazing
supervisor, Tia, as she has talked with young people throughout the summer. To me, Tia is the
definition of what it means to serve young people. Serving means sitting down with a young
person to talk about how to open a bank account or how to get health insurance. It means be-
ing there for a young person’s wins and losses and to hold that person accountable. So many
times I’ve heard those words that keep the power in the hands of youth— “I hear you.”
I began this summer wanting not only to be an advocate of youth voice but also a listener to
the stories of Baltimore’s youth. I wanted to learn what it meant to live and grow up in Balti-
more because of my passion for working with kids. During a brainstorming session this sum-
mer, we asked our group of almost 40 youth to describe topics they wanted to talk about to
tell their stories. They collectively narrowed a list down to just these four terms that help tell
their stories: race, violence, family dynamics, and misogyny. Most of these were topics I had
little experience with, making me recognize not only the privilege I grew up with but also the
fact that these topics are a common thread for many of our young people.
However, our youth proved to us all that race, violence, family dynamics, and misogyny are not
the defining factors of youth identities in Baltimore. Through the youth-led #IamMoreBmore
campaign at Wide Angle, I learned about the amazing things that Baltimore’s youth are doing
everyday from playing sports and creating businesses to playing in marching band. I’ve real-
ized adults may focus on the negative stories about youth, but I’ve gotten the chance to see
young people express their identities through media arts. I have always been a strong believ-
er that we can learn a lot from young people. My experience at Wide Angle this summer has
taught me many lessons about independence, responsibility, the workplace, and Baltimore,
but the most important lesson I have learned is to just listen and let youth write their own nar-
ratives.
• Advised student-led efforts including a social media campaign to emphasize
the importance of youth voice in Baltimore
• Supervised student activities and administrative materials including timesheets,
field trips, and lunch hours during the YouthWorks summer program
• Organized materials and provided daily support for summer program teachers
while also serving as a mediator between teachers and clients
• Developed assessments for evaluating the impact of Wide Angle’s year-round
programs as well as summer program quality using the Youth Program Quality
Assessment criteria
51