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Meet Rick Fowler of Spot 127 Youth Media Center

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Rick Fowler.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The program’s roots reach back to 2007, when KJZZ piloted its Teen Radio Project. The Teen Radio program sent skilled journalists into local high schools to work with at-risk students.

In 2011, through the collaboration of Friends of Public Radio Arizona, a 501(c) (3) organization, Rio Salado College and KJZZ 91.5 FM, the project was expanded into SPOT 127. The youth media center has served more than 150 students each year since spring 2012.

SPOT 127 created the Korva Coleman Excellence Awards in 2013 to recognize outstanding work from youth across the country. Today, the national awards honor high school and college journalists who produce digital work in audio, video and print. Winners receive a $1,000 college scholarship. In 2015, SPOT 127 established the Carl Matthusen Youth Leadership Award, in honor of KJZZ’s longtime general manager. This award and $1,000 scholarship goes to a participant who has exhibited leadership excellence while at SPOT 127. In April 2014, Carstens Family Funds established the Carstens Family Funds Scholarships. The generous scholarship for four SPOT 127 graduates covers the total cost of attending any school within the Maricopa Community College District. A second scholarship opportunity for SPOT 127 students attending Maricopa Community Colleges was created in 2016 through support from the Jack Pfister Scholarship Fund. In addition to scholarship opportunities, SPOT 127 student have received a number of NATAS Rocky Mountain Student Production nominations and awards.

In January 2017, SPOT 127 accepted the first cohort of East Valley students at the newly constructed SPOT 127 Youth Media Center – East Valley location in Tempe, AZ. With the addition of a second location, SPOT 127 is now moving in a wider trajectory of digital storytelling and currently serving around 300 students each year.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Building a small journalism initiative into a Phoenix Valley organization did not come without challenges. Initially the program served at-risk students at the schools they attended. We would send instructors out to teach photography and food videography inside school facilities. That was a challenge with constantly packing and transporting equipment and often being limited to few contact hours with students each week. Therefore the scope of the projects were limited by contact teaching hours.

Over time the interest in the program grew and funding grew as well. Our amazing list of donors has always shared our vision to serve as many valley students interested in digital media as possible. Our physical location developed out of a building owned by the Phoenix Union High School District on the border of Maryvale at 35th Avenue and Thomas. The flagship location developed the curriculum into an afterschool program that serves students two hours per day, five days per week in a semester-long program that translates into 40-48 contact hours with students. This increase in number of hours has also allowed students enough time to create more complex, better-researched, more competitive audio, photo and video projects. It is true that the more time you put into working on a labor of love, the more satisfied you are at the outcome. Our students now get the time to create robust projects and have additional time in the classroom to make friends with students from all corners of the Phoenix Valley–they build future professional networks all while still in high school!

SPOT 127 West in Phoenix has become a well-established facility with full student rosters semester over semester. However, since SPOT 127 East in Tempe has only been open for about a year and a half, building awareness of our residency in the East Valley has become our current challenge. We are continuing to introduce the East Valley educators and students to our program and provide outreach wherever we can to let the community know were here to serve. Our East Valley facility was building inside (walls and all) from the ground-up. It’s a great space for students just like SPOT West where teens are safe to be creative and develop new skills in technology and soft skills like teamwork, communication, increased self-esteem, media literacy and leadership. SPOT 127’s current struggle is rising up within the community and letting everyone know we are here, we bring an innovative program to teens and that we’re constantly reaching out to serve as many student populations as we can.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about SPOT 127 Youth Media Center – what should we know?
The mission and purpose of SPOT 127 is to provide a voice to the youth of the community. We facilitate the learning of technical and soft skills to teens in a free afterschool program and summer paid programming. Although our core focus is to serve at-risk student populations, teens from all walks of life and a variety of demographics come to us to learn digital storytelling. SPOT 127 shows students the “nuts and bolts” of media creation including: how to use DSLR cameras, digital audio recorders and computer technology along with building skills in production software (focusing primarily on Adobe Photoshop image-editing software, Adobe Audition audio editing software, Adobe Premiere video-editing software and Adobe After Effects motion graphics software) and hone their skills in writing, language, inquiry, collaboration, critical thinking and ethics.

As a company I am most proud of our endless commitment to the students. We pride ourselves in meeting students where they’re at and through hands-on, project based learning we are able to see increases in so many positive outcomes with each student. Some students come to us because they love journalism and want to be a professional reporter, others have an interest in producing audio or becoming filmmakers and some come to us because they don’t have anywhere else to go that allows them the same level of feeling safe and productive. At the end of the program students leave with much more than they arrived to us with. They are more confident in themselves, they beam with pride over the work they’ve created, they have built new and lasting friendships, some have won regional or national awards from their work at SPOT 127, students receive local or regional or national exposure of their work and some manage to surprise themselves with what they accomplished in their participation in our program. What sets us apart from others is the excellence of the SPOT 127 student experience.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
When it comes to the continued success for SPOT 127 I would have to point to our relentless commitment to our students and constant pursuit of making tomorrow even better than yesterday. Students may or may not come to our program knowing what they want, however, we offer the stability of knowing what WE want–for them to be successful in their lives. I truly believe that no matter what barriers are created by external forces, SPOT 127 will overcome by never losing sight of what we do best: providing a voice to the youth. The technology will change, the political climate will ebb and flow in the communities, the economy can waiver. What will remain unwavering is the dedication of SPOT 127 to our teens and the opportunity that we provide to those in need.

Pricing:

  • Free Spring Semester afterschool program
  • Free Fall Semester afterschool program
  • Paid Summer Boot Camp in June (with scholarships available for those in need)
  • Paid Summer July Session (with scholarships available for those in need)

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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