East Palo Alto once had the nation’s highest per-capita murder rate, and while it no longer holds that distinction, 2007 could not be called a particularly good year.
According to news reports, on Dec. 8, two men were shot in separate incidents; on Dec. 3, a man was shot several times; Nov. 27, three men were shot, one killed in a McDonald’s parking lot; Nov. 25, a suspect walked up to and shot two women; Oct. 21, a man was shot five times; Sept. 4, a man died in a fatal drive-by shooting; July 7, a young man was shot in the leg while walking; Jan. 21, two teenage boys were killed in front of an apartment building.
For many, these reports may seem abstract, but for Flora Piponi, this is her life; this is where she lives.
Flora recalls the shooting of two young women near Costano Elementary School in East Palo Alto. It was a quiet evening at home with her family in December 2006; shots were fired, lights flashed and the police came.
“A girl died,” she recounts. “It’s scary; I feel like I have to stay inside.”
Flora doesn’t stay inside, though. “I’ve learned that you have to get your voice out there,” she insists. “If you want to make a change, you can’t just sit at home; you have to speak up.”
With the help of a video camera and a public-access television station, Flora and some of her fellow students are speaking up, getting their voices out there.
Flora, Raul Ibarra and Ana Rubio are among 110 Menlo-Atherton High School students — mostly from East Palo Alto and the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park — who participate in a program called New Voices for Youth. The program was started by the Leagues of Women Voters of South San Mateo County and Palo Alto in 2004 with a mission to encourage the civic engagement of local youth.
“It is an outreach project modeled after historical examples where youth made a difference,” says program director Lisa Frederikson Bohannon of Menlo Park, referring to the student-led civil rights movements of the 1960s.
Co-founded by Ms. Bohannon, Kathleen Weisenberg of Atherton, Sandy Eakins and Veronica Tincher of Palo Alto, and Gerry Felix of Redwood City, the program gives students an opportunity to find and express their voices through the medium of video.
They had the support of the Leagues of Women Voters (LWV) and the Palo Alto Media Center, a Midpeninsula nonprofit organization that helps community residents create and distribute local television programs.
At a Jan. 22 presentation at Menlo-Atherton High School, the LWV was awarded a $15,000 “Excelerator” grant by the AT&T Foundation to support New Voices for Youth.
AT&T Excelerator grants are given for projects that, according to the foundation’s Web site, “use technology to help nonprofit organizations build stronger communities.” In 2007, the site says, 680 grants were given, totaling $9 million.
Crucial issues
Some 230 young people have been involved in New Voices for Youth since its inception. The program pairs with many local youth groups including the Menlo-Atherton Academy at Menlo-Atherton High School.Acting as a school within a school, the Academy combines a technology-based curriculum with community values such as pride, good citizenry and responsibility. Academy students are predominantly from East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park.
Participating students are given 16 hours of video production training, according to the program’s curriculum. They also are taught how to identify and research issues, how to find reliable sources, and how to organize information into a cohesive story to be told on television.
Upon completing the program, students will have produced 30-second and 60-second public service announcements, five-minute extended PSAs, and a 30-minute documentary.
Beginning in January 2007, Chris Rubin, the Academy’s Web design and video teacher, added the New Voices for Youth program to his curriculum.
“The program seemed perfect for the Academy,” says Mr. Rubin. “These kids are full of great ideas and have experience with issues that most people in this area don’t. They are the perfect ones to bring these issues to light.”
Beginning with this year’s junior class, Academy students will go through the New Voices for Youth curriculum, producing the PSAs and the five-minute piece in the fall semester, and focusing on the longer documentary in the spring.
Each project is produced and edited by a team of four students and shown on local public-access stations in a regular rotation. Ms. Bohannon, Ms. Weisenberg and Mr. Rubin are also trying to organize an assembly, where M-A students and the community would have a chance to view the productions.
From inception to broadcast, these projects are designed as learning experiences. Students learn how to work in teams and make decisions; they work with League of Women Voters mentors to conduct research and interviews; and finally, they create a narrative and present an argument to the public — not to mention the technology they have to master.
“Learning how to use the video camera and editing program was the most fun,” says Raul Ibarra, an M-A student.
Flora Piponi concurs, adding that she appreciates the value of video as a mode of communication because it captures the attention of young people.
Students also gain confidence and self-esteem, says Mr. Rubin. “They learn that they can make a difference — that they can do whatever they want to do if they put the time and energy into it.”
Students aren’t the only ones learning. “I have learned more in the past year than in my whole life about these kids and their communities,” says Mr. Rubin.
Opening eyes
Flora, Raul and Ana were part of last year’s junior class, the first Academy members to get a taste of the program.Flora’s documentary is on the effects of redevelopment in East Palo Alto. It points out the difference in violent-crime rates between the redeveloped areas of the city with newly paved streets and public services and the older, less developed areas.
Raul’s piece is about gang violence, which has been blamed for the Jan. 21, 2007, deaths of two teenage boys.
Ana’s piece focuses on youth deaths and how the randomness of the crimes can destroy a family and community.
All three topics deal with violence, either indirectly or directly, and for a very good reason.
“It’s what is happening,” explains Ana. “We’re trying to open the community’s eyes.”
“We all have known a victim,” Raul adds. “Everyone is touched. We’re telling people what’s really going on; families have to live with this forever. You can’t ignore it.”
INFORMATION
• The half-hour programs are shown on rotation on public access television, Channel 28 in Atherton and Menlo Park, on these days and times: Mondays, 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.; Tuesdays, 3 a.m. and 11 p.m.; Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. and 11 p.m.; Saturdays, 7 p.m.; and Sundays, 3 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.• For more information on New Voices for Youth, go to: www.newvoicesforyouth.org.
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