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NEW MEDIA ACADEMY LAUNCHES DIGITAL STORYTELLING WORKSHOP ‘BREAKING BOUNDARIES’ FOR GIFTED AND SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS

Pilot Program Showcases its Films April 6^th at Cleveland High School in Reseda, Calif.

Reseda, Calif. (3/22/11) – In a landmark academic venture, VSA International and The Victor Pineda Foundation have teamed to teach gifted and special needs students to create their own digital narrative films. The eight-week program, titled “Breaking Boundaries,” is debuting at Cleveland High School in Reseda, Calif., as part of the school’s New Media Academy. An April 6th showcase of the student’s finished projects takes place at 3PM in Cleveland’s media academy room.

Students from Cleveland High School and Joaquin Miller Career and Transition Center have spent the last several weeks developing small production companies and short scripts before shooting, editing and producing their films. Each student’s narrative short highlights his or her personal experiences while also showcasing the collective creativity of the next generation’s media producers.

The Victor Pineda Foundation, a voluntary non-profit organization that promotes educational opportunities for young people with disabilities, spearheaded the new endeavor. The organization’s founder, Victor Pineda, said the New Media Academy provides fertile ground for creative students who may otherwise lack artistic outlets.

“Storytelling is changing every day,” Pineda said. “Drawing students together as part of the academy and providing our participants with real-world knowledge sparks a fire in these young people that will brighten lives and fuel careers.”

Each student group works under the guidance of young mentors with backgrounds in film and storytelling. These mentors, all with disabilities of their own, share their personal experiences in the digital arts as well as their perspectives on career opportunities.

“We began to see amazing results as early as the first session,” team leader David Radcliff, an alumnus of UCLA’s graduate screenwriting program, said. “Many of these students transitioned from shy uncertainty to surprising confidence in a very short time. The stories they’re producing are likely to get audiences thinking about the world and themselves in some very profound ways.”

Alongside VSA and his creative team leaders, Pineda worked to ensure curriculum at The New Media Academy was highly customized for the needs of each participant. Whether developmentally challenged or academically proficient, each student of the Breaking Boundaries program receives practical goal-oriented instruction while developing his or her project. This teaching style adheres to the Universal Design Learning (UDL) principles for individualized accommodations.

VSA, an affiliate of the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts in Washington, DC, sponsored the Breaking Boundaries New Media Academy program. Lesson plans utilized combine digital storytelling and media production skills in a standards-based curriculum that can be evaluated by the California Department of Education and integrated into mainstream high school classes. Upon conclusion of the Breaking Boundaries pilot program, its founders intend to replicate the workshops via partnerships with art organizations across the country.

A blog featuring more information and photos of the workshops can be found at http://breakingboundaries.posterous.com. Cleveland High School is located at 8140 Vanalden Ave., Reseda, CA 91335. To attend the workshops or April 6th screening, contact Jason Sereno at jason_sereno@yahoo.com.

VSA International, an international non-profit organization celebrating the power of the arts have made in the lives of individuals with disabilities.

The Victor Pineda Foundation works to inspire, educate and inform a global audience about the capabilities and potential of persons with disabilities.

The Victor Pineda Foundation is proud to partner with the creators of Including Samuel, an internationally acclaimed documentary by photojournalist Dan Habib.
 
The film comes to public television (U.S.) in September and October (Disability Awareness Month) with support from the National Inclusion Project and CVS Caremark All Kids Can.
 
FILM SYNOPSIS:

Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Including Samuel chronicles the Habib family's efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family's hopes and struggles as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. Including Samuel is a highly personal, passionately photographed film that captures the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion.
 
The film has also been widely screened internationally, including events in Belgium, Moscow, Belarus, Scotland, England, Taiwan, Greece, Iraq, Canada, Holland, and an upcoming screening by The Victor Pineda Foundation in the UAE!

BROADCASTS ARE CURRENTLY SCHEDULED

Go to http://www.includingsamuel.com/ for a regularly updated list of broadcasts and public screenings.