Media Communications Council

The Kids Are Alright Fest

Reel 4 A Change — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:51:13 +0000

IMG_2086.MOV (1956 KB)

Just arrived here at the Mohawk for the Kids Are Alright Fest going on all day. Skating, music, gaming and lots of young people. Our Media Proteges are filming the event. It’s another milestone for them. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with…

The Kids Are Alright Fest

Reel 4 A Change — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 20:07:16 +0000

Download now or watch on posterous

IMG_2086.MOV (1956 KB)

Podcast: Youth, Education & Social Entrepreneurship

Reel 4 A Change — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:29:22 +0000

Here’s a podcast along with slides and video used in my presentation earlier this week on Youth, Education & Social Entrepreneurship. I was joined by Hoover Alexander, proprietor of Hoover’s Cooking. Hoover was the client for students in last summer’s outreach program Media Xperiments service learning project. A group of twelve students worked for 64 hours with University of Texas Ph.D canddate in advertising candidate Amber Chenevert and consulted with top creatives and executives from GSD&M Idea City and Sanders Wingo as we developed a media strategy, web site and on-line cooking show for Hoover’s Cooking.

Download now or listen on posterous

YouthEdSocialEntrepreneur.mp3 (13482 KB)

Student made video or “mash up” on Cultural Capital.

Youth, Education & Social Entrepreneurship Presentation Wed. Feb 16th @ Link Coworking for Lunch

Reel 4 A Change — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:59:23 +0000

Link @ Lunch with MCC Founder Carl Settles Jr. Wed. Feb. 16th 12 – 1pm

Hello,

I wanted to send a special invite for you to join me for lunch this Wednesday at Link Coworking from noon to 1pm as I speak on Youth, Education & Social Entrepreneurship. I hope to provide some practical examples for entrepreneurs on how they can have a direct impact on the educational engagement of youth while adding to their own bottom lines.

I’ll be recounting last summer’s Media Communications service learning project with local restaurant Hoover’s Cooking. For four weeks, our students worked with University of Texas Ph.D candidate Amber Chenevert, local entrepreneur Hoover Alexander, senior creatives and executives from GSD&M Idea City and Sanders Wingo Advertising as we developed a media strategy, web site and on-line cooking show.

Don’t forget to bring your lunch and feed your brain! You’re Welcome to stay and check out Link for the rest of the day.

More Info

Almost 40% of the students that graduated from high school and attended college in Texas last year needed remedial reading, math and/or science (Dallas Morning News). In fact, students throughout the United States have fallen behind their counterparts in other developed nations around the world. Even with college educated students in the US, businesses often find them lacking the soft skills needed to be effective and have to invest extra time and resources into making them truly ready for work.

Carl Settles, Founder/Executive Director of the Media Communications Council, will outline ways that business leaders can have a direct impact on student achievement while also improving their own bottom lines. Carl will present a case study of a project completed by students in the youth outreach program Media Xperiments for the local restaurant chain Hoover’s Cooking. Students worked with University of Texas PhD candidates and senior creatives from GSD&M Idea City and Sanders Wingo Advertising as they developed a media strategy, web site and on-line cooking show produced by the students themselves.

Veteran teacher, inspiration for KIPP dies at 64

Reel 4 A Change — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 09:22:17 +0000

A friend posted this on my wall re: an amazing teacher who has inspired one of the most successful school networks in the country, the KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program). KIPP charter schools serve low income youth and have consistent outcomes where over 90% of their students go on to attend college. They have proven that low income youth can excel with the proper type of instruction and environment. I was also struck by the fact that she attended Huston Tillotson College, right here in Austin, TX. Like so many of my parents’ generation, Harriet went to a historically black college. I often think we don’t fully acknowledge the role that HBCUs played in the formation of the black middle class. They were trailblazers that set a true standard of excellence. Most every one of my African American second generation college graduate colleague’s parents went to a HBCU.

By Jay Mathews

THE WASHINGTON POST

Updated: 8:14 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, 2011

Published: 8:06 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, 2011

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Harriett Ball , a well-known teacher trainer who inspired the most successful charter school network in the country, died Feb. 2 at Houston Northwest Medical Center after a heart attack. She was 64 .

A lively classroom performer with a rich sense of humor, the elementary school teacher stood 6 feet 1 inch tall and had a deep, vibrant alto voice. Most of her fame stemmed from the role she played in the creation of the Knowledge Is Power Program, now known as KIPP, which has grown to 99 schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia. KIPP schools have 27,000 students and are growing rapidly.

She trained KIPP’s co-founders, Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg , when they were novice members of the Teach For America program. She gave them a host of original songs, chants and games to encourage learning. They took the name of their network from her most popular chant:

“You gotta read, baby, read.

You gotta read, baby, read.

The more you read, the more you know,

‘Cause knowledge is power,

Power is money, and

I want it.”

KIPP’s initial fifth- through eighth-grade public charter middle schools used some of Ball’s methods — her iron doctrine that all children will learn and a longer school day and year — to produce some of the largest gains in achievement ever seen in low-income children.

In a statement, Levin and Feinberg said, “KIPP would not exist without Harriett.” Watching her, they said, “was akin to watching any genius in action — she made one of the world’s most difficult endeavors seem effortless.”

Harriett Jane Hill was born July 1, 1946, in Rosenberg, southwest of Houston. She received a teaching degree from Huston-Tillotson University and taught in Austin and Houston for 35 years.

Survivors include four children, Rochelle Franks of Houston, Pamela Franks of Austin, Paul Franks of Greenwood, Miss., and Priscilla Franks of Spring; a brother, Hubert Hill of Houston; and nine grandchildren.

via statesman.com

Slideshow Reminiscing

Reel 4 A Change — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 02:29:10 +0000

http://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/photo/slideshowplayer/slideshowplayer.swf?v=201102040200 I was checking out this simple slideshow from Media Xperiments, a web site that I created 3 years ago and was struck at how far we have come. So many diverse students and teachers are able to showcase their dreams and aspirations. We generally don’t let students post pics of celebrities and such. Our focus is on the students and their work… their creativity. We believe that student engagement and rigor are not mutually exclusive. We want to show students that they can be active producers of quality media and ultimately masters of their own destinies.

And now, with the launch of It Could Be U: Intensive Mentoring & College Readiness program, we are approaching 1000 members in Central Texas. Big Things!