An original story written by the creator of Year Up, Gerald Chertavian. It relates his experience as a long-time Big Brother and his progression to create the Year Up organization. This story is an excellent example of the potential of how the story of the origin of a non-profit can be used as a tool for organizing, outreach, and fundraising.
(Directed and Produced b Damien Rudzinski) This story was created as part of a Year Up writing class. 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.
