Steeltown has recently completed the pilot program of the Youth and Media Initiative at the Holy
Family Institute. This program focuses on at-risk high school students by connecting them to local
and expatriate entertainment professionals in a hands-on teaching environment. Providing mentors who
teach them how to use media to tell their own stories, the program exposes students to career
possibilities within the entertainment industry, and develops skills and a sense of responsibility
that will serve them throughout their lives.
Through a series of weekly workshops students learn various aspects of digital storytelling as well
as technical aspects of film and video production, such as lighting and sound design,
cinematography, and editing. Under the mentorship of Steeltown staff and volunteers, the students
produced a ten-minute short film that was screened at Holy Family Institute's Spirit of Family
awards banquet honoring Jack Mascaro, founder of Mascaro Construction, LLC. They also shot footage
for a larger film they are doing on Holy Family itself, which they will continue to work on in
subsequent sessions. The students wrapped up the semester-long program with a tour of WQED and met
David Newell, the delivery man from "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and George L. Miles, Jr. President
& CEO of WQED.
The "Youth & Media" Initiative will continue at Holy Family Institute and be expanded in the next
phase to offer training to the youth at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. This program has been
supported by the Grable Foundation, the RK Mellon Foundation, and the Colcom Foundation as well as
theater proceeds from screenings of the film "My Tale of Two Cities."
