SIGHT and SOUND & Youth Media Literacy Club

This summer I am serving as an active volunteer a few days a week with Preservation Link, Inc. in conjunction with the non-profits Sight & Sound program that is offers middle and high school students an eight week experience that offers them "opportunities to create, view, and critique documentary media." In addition students have access to El Centro College and earn 4 college credits. I will often leave post about the experiences that I encounter form the Summer Program "SIGHT & SOUND" and Youth Media Literacy Club.

Last Friday, students took an outside field trip to UT Dallas and were exposed to a university campus style atmosphere... sitting in a lecture hall, individual classrooms and auditoriums. While there, students got the chance to visit and talk with professionals and explore the many possibilities that are at their disposal.

1. Dr. Betty Pace is a professor and director of the Sickle Cell Disease Research Center (SCDRC) at the University of Texas at Dallas, spoke to the students about her involvement as a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Researcher to seek a cure for Sickle Cell Disease, cancer and blood diseases. Students toured the SCDRC and explored the equipment used to conduct research.
2. Regina James Dorsey, who is the Resume Editor at the UT Dallas Career Center. She stressed the importance of developing a career plan early on and setting goals that will direct them on the path to obtaining the job that they want. Have a back up plan if their first choice doesn't pan out as expected. Lastly, to think of/ or set a contingency plan- a back up plan for the 'back up plan'. She encourage the students to consider all the options available to them. One thing that I really enjoyed hearing her say, was that you are never to young to think and consider what you would like to do in the future.

Students also received a tour of ATEC facility and EMAC- the following was retrieved from the schools website.

The Arts and Technology program is Texas' first comprehensive degree designed to explore and foster the convergence of computer science and engineering with creative arts and the humanities.A joint creation of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Arts and Humanities, the Arts and Technology (ATEC) program is a collaborative effort that transcends existing disciplines and academic units.

The Emerging Media and Communication program prepares students not only to produce the media of the future, but to reflect on the impacts these digital networked technologies have on our culture. While conventional degree programs in media emphasize established media formats, EMAC integrates this traditional approach with the creation, applications and implications of emerging media. In short, the major requires both practice and theory. We are concerned not with training and teaching students about the media of yesterday, or even today, but rather how to critically think about and operate in a rapidly evolving and emerging media landscape, to be prepared for the media jobs that do not yet exist.

Student really enjoyed and appreciated this outing and I foresee even greater experience for them all in the near future.