Hear Me

SLB Audio Workshop

Podcasts and Internet radio are on the rise as effective, artful, and inexpensive way to share stories, opinions, and more. In fact, it may be the best way. Learn the skills to create professional audio pieces from the world around you. Hone your skills using microphones and digital recorders, as well as the software used to create.

Teen Bloc: Addressing Educational Inequities

TeenBloc's organizers will discuss about how they identified educational injustice in Pittsburgh and how they begin to address some of these inequities through their We Deserve to Be Served Campaign.  The workshop facilitators will challenge their peers to engage in social justice work through becoming an ally of TeenBloc or seeding their own work. 

Student filmmaker and Temple University student, Alexis Werner will teach you the process of filmmaking she learned while producing her documentary, "Our Way Home.” During the hour long presentation you will learn the steps in coming up with an idea, interviewing skills, how to find funding, and what to do when your project is complete. This innovative workshop will leave you with the knowledge and resources to create a film about a cause you are passionate about!

Learn how to use animation to make your voice heard. Pittsburgh Filmmakers Youth Media Teaching Artist Jayla Patton will present a variety of techniques for making short animations using tablets and apps. Animations using drawings, photographs, found objects and people will be screened and demonstrated in this hands-on workshop. Free apps, strategies for creating soundtracks, and sharing to the web will be covered.

Be inspired by the students who have led the Civil Rights movement in the United States. Every successful social justice and civil rights movement in the United States has included strong student voices and legal action. Learn about Barbara Johns, a high school student who led a walk out protesting segregation in 1951, and the students who came before her and those who follow in her footsteps.

In these 10-min talks from teens, they will show you how they took control over student issues, demonstrate leadership, or stand up for their rights. Come with questions on how you can make your own change!

1. Teens for Change: Funding for Youth-led Social Change Projects

2. "Breaking school policy": Passive Resistance

3. Organizing TEDxYouth@HMB

4. Pittsburgh Student Activist Coalition: Mayor Peduto and Youth Policy

Media Literacy: Media Breaker

Does the news reflect your point of view?  In this session, we’ll use the LAMP’s Media Breaker to deconstruct what media is and put our own spin on it.

Bullying: real stories, real hope

In the last decade, students have become more educated about the many facets of bullying and schools have adopted anti-bullying policies and programs. However, for those who have experienced bullying firsthand, an educational program can never quite convey how bullying can change the thoughts, emotions, actions and the very being of those affected. This session will give students the chance to share their stories, both how they hurt and how they healed. They will also engage in discussion about what they believe are the root causes of bullying in their communities and how they can affect change in the future.

Combatting the ISMs:

Do you feel frustrated with society’s perception of youth?  Are you tired of the negative, stereotypical images of youth that are many times projected by the media or portrayed in the movies?  While most youth are positive, contributing members of their community, this is not what’s always seen.  In this two part workshop we will explore how you can use your voice to combat the distorted images fueled by stereotypes, discrimination and isms (ageism, racism, sexism, and heterosexism). We will:

·      Define the isms

·      Share our own experiences

·      Discover how other youth across the nation are using their voice

·      Develop some strategies for counteracting these ISM

·      and connect you to local resources (people, organizations) to help you get your voice heard

Beyond the Museum: Teen Voices on Race & Identity

Hear from Pittsburgh teens who produced media projects in poetry, film and journalism to document youth experiences of race in Pittsburgh in response to the exhibit "RACE: Are We So Different?" at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Come check out our projects, share your story and discuss ideas for creative media as a tool to bring teen voices to the public and explore tough conversations in our communities.

Filmmaker Panel

Join professional filmmakers for this two-hour session to learn about documentary filmmaking and social causes.  Following presentations on their work, the filmmakers will engage in discussions about youth media-making and take questions in a Q&A.  The panel will be moderated by Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ Will Zavala.

Kirsi Jansa is an independent filmmaker and broadcast journalist who has shot all over the world. She will show an excerpt of most recent project, “Gas Rush Stories.”

Julie Sokolow is an award-winning independent filmmaker whose work has appeared at TIME, Huffington Post, and Boing Boing. Currently, Sokolow is directing her first documentary feature, Aspie Seeks Love.

1Hood Media (tentative)

Real College

A panel of college students will give the real scoop about transitioning to college, what no one really tells you about financial aid, and navigating new academic models and social groups.  This is a youth-only session, sorry!