From fall 2017 to spring 2018, I am coordinating and teaching a free youth after-school filmmaking and fitness program (in partnership with Peter Welch’s Gym, the Joseph Nee South Boston Collaborative Center, and the Joseph M. Tierney Learning Center), engaging 10 youth participants. The teens, ages 13-17, gather footage during the exercise and nutrition program (visiting South Boston chefs, supermarket tours, and the health center nutritionist), tracking their fitness progress and creating a video journal. Participants learn documentary filmmaking skills, including cinematography and interview techniques.

Youth will complete their group project during the spring, learning how to work as a team and build storytelling skills while editing. The finished video will be screened at the Joseph M. Tierney Learning Center for family, friends, and the public, and uploaded to social media. The screening will help to grow the teens’ public speaking skills as they field audience questions about their program experience and the film.

This South Boston program is located in the Old Colony housing development, identified as high risk due to the frequency of overdose and community violence. Few youth arts activities are available in the development, and youth have expressed feelings of isolation. The community will benefit from this program by providing 10 youth a creative outlet, whereby they produce and edit a group video documenting their health, wellness, and fitness transformation from the fall through spring. Having taught youth since 2000 in the Old Colony development, I have seen many students without arts experience find video acts as a catalyst for new creative endeavors.