Trainees at Hopeworks go through a curriculum that teaches them how to build web sites for clients. Completion of the training can earn them a job in Hopeworks’ web business, which is an incentive to continue in a work skills program that compliments their academic work. The main goal for Hopeworks youth is to continue their education, most often in Community College. They attend daily literacy sessions where they work one-on-one with a teacher or volunteer to improve their skills or to work on their classroom assignments. Part of the literacy program is a Digital Storytelling program where youth write an essay about their lives, record it and use the recording as the soundtrack to a video. This is often the first exposure the youth have to editing a video. Like most young people today they pick up the process quickly and their videos often exceed expectations.
In addition to Hopeworks’ Web and GIS work, their staff also works with trainees to produce videos for clients, such as this JBJSF video. Hopeworks youth will meet with clients, help to plan the location shoots, act as the crew on shoots, log the footage and help to compile a “paper edit”. Generally it is a staff member who does the final edit, reviewing it at different points with the trainees involved.
On this video Jonathan (“Jon”) Lugo logged the footage and worked with staff to develop the paper edit. Trainee Chris Alicea was part of the crew on the location shoot.
Jon is taking a film appreciation class this semester and is in the process of shooting a class project and Chris has been involved with several other shoots and is working on a video that will be uploaded to the Hopeworks site at the end of the year. Working on the JBJSF video gave Jon and Chris more valuable experience in this field as they continue with their studies.
For more information, please visit the website for Hopeworks ‘N Camden
The JBJ Soul Foundation thanks the youth of Hopeworks for their thoughtful input to this video as well as their dedication to moving their lives forward in a productive way… one SOUL at a time!!
