by Donna Ladd
YMP Program Director, Founder

Yowza! We're just over three weeks into the new Mississippi Youth Media Project, and what a ride it's been. I feel like I'm part of a very special family already, which most of the teens themselves are saying, too. The space, in the old Associated Press offices on the 13th Floor of Capital Towers down the hall from my newspaper Jackson Free Press, is inspiring with expansive views of downtown Jackson and cool furniture provided by Barefield Workplace Solutions. It is the perfect incubator for a creative, high-energy "startup." Starting with the pizza party we held before YMP launched June 1, we've urged the students to think and act as if they are media entrepreneurs starting up a new publication—to bring the nimble energy of doing what it takes to build something special and creative that can, in turn, make the world a better place for young people and others. And, they learn entrepreneurial soft skills to boot.

And this group is super engaged on all levels: I bought boxed-up desk chairs and dropped them off in the YMP newsroom; two of the female students, Kelsee and Maggie, grabbed and started putting them together; a group of the guys had already jumped in and assembled bookcases. When the folks I'd planned to do the video training decided they couldn't do it the way we needed them to, the students themselves pooled their equipment and started shooting video and helping each other: collective mentoring at its best. One of the students, Zaccheus, started quietly shooting and editing what he calls "Day in the Life" videos of students in the project and putting them on social media. They're wonderful, and we'll be posting some of them on this site soon.

By Onelia Hawa
YMP Program Assistant

​So, we’re three weeks into the Mississippi Youth Media Project, and I remember looking at the wide-open startup loft space the night before YMP’s first day thinking, “what are we doing?” As a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed start-up newbie, I can still say the “honeymoon” phase hasn’t worn off, and the city view definitely is only a piece of the pie to blame. Like any new program, event or class, attendance takes a sharp turn typically after the first week. The ones who end up sticking through the first seven days are those who end up finding a genuine interest and commitment with whatever it is you have to offer. These are the students changing Jackson and bettering our futures.
 
I assigned students the task of calling nonprofit organizations as sources for their solutions-oriented journalism stories the first week. The deadpan look on nearly every student’s face was something I should have captured, but shortly afterward, each student moved to his or her designated workspace and researched local organizations. Most students were not initially excited and drifted their gaze to the Standard Life building and city skyline through the windows lining the newsroom. Others became frustrated and were unaware of why both the exercise and nonprofits were important to begin with.

Youth Media Project participants are in the building! This morning started out with some ice-breaking activities and then we rolled right into an Editorial Staff Meeting (this week with a few more people around the table than usual) with Jackson Free Press editor-in-chief Donna Ladd at the helm.

With a target date of June 1, 2016, the Youth Media Project staff (with an assistant from the JFP staff) is working hard to pull the YMP offices together. Perched on the 13th floor of Capitol Towers in downtown Jackson, the YMP office is an open floor plan that used to house the capital city's Associated Press offices.

​With views of the Standard Life building, breakout rooms for interviews, podcasting, production work and more, the new YMP office promises to be a great headquarters for learning and creating this summer.