The students of Melanee Grondahl's writing class planned and executed a premiere of their digital stories for falculty, staff, friends and family, complete with award categories, multiple screening rooms, and popcorn.
Year Up's mission is to close the "Opportunity Divide" by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. Their model is a one-year, intensive training program that provides urban young adults, ages 18-24, with a combination of hands-on skill development, college credits, and corporate apprenticeships.
Learning Director and Writing Program Leader Melanee Grondahl attended the first MassIMPACT Spreading the Stories train-the-trainer in the fall of 2005, and incorporated digital storytelling into her creative writing class. This multi-week curriculum was based on matching the digital storytelling process to an educational standards based writing instructional plan. These Year Up digital stories were also facilitated with the help of Damien Rudzinski.
