On May 6th, a Thirteen colleague and I had the pleasure of attending a Manhattan Producers Alliance event at the NYC NATAS space. The focus of the presentation was on “kid created” media, and highlights included Soundbites (a wonderfully fun music technology and songwriting program) and BYkids (important international documentary films, created by children who are paired up with professional producers), in addition to a lively informational session on the technology program at JFK High School (http://wearekennedy.com).

JFK High School was represented by their principal, Anthony Rotunno, four students, a Columbia doctoral student who is studying their school and a technology/production expert who is now a teacher at the school. As part of their newly created Career & Technical Education (CTE) program, 1,200 students are learning four critical areas of professional technology elements, including:

* Music Production
* Video Production
* Desktop Publishing
* Entrepreneurship

The principal participates in the mayor’s task force on careers in technology, and he credits the CTE program with completely transforming his school. Thanks to this program, his students have gained skills in critical thinking and problem solving, in addition to getting certified as official Apple trainers (wow!). The entire audience, including savvy television producers and members of the Law & Order SVU cast (that’s another story…), was absolutely mesmerized by the stories the students shared regarding their change of attitude toward school and their academic work. As one student said, “I passed the test to get certified as an Apple trainer, but I need better grades too, so the program has pushed me to get those better grades to go along with my CTE success”. Another said, “My grade point average used to be 40%, but now it’s 80%”, while another said, “I can use the money I’m making from the skills I’ve learned through this program to help my mom out with the bills”.

This presentation was a wonderful example of an amazingly successful program. The students and their adult program counterparts were absolutely inspirational, and I look forward to hearing more about them as their program continues to move forward.