The Groove Productions - Youth Video Production

Youth Video Production I bring over twenty years teaching experience to my youth video workshops, which partner with community groups, educational institutions and non-profits. Students light-up and ooze excitement with video cameras and microphones in hand. Production activities empower youth to explore and represent their world and to voice their concerns and dreams. For many students, the video medium taps into strengths as visual learners, and it offers an alternative form of expression from text-based modes of communication. Workshops can be set-up to encourage and teach civic engagement, learn the core concepts of media literacy, empower poetic and self-expression, and deepen understanding of history and social studies. Meaningful, fun, and creative projects enhance self-esteem and ensure that student voices, often ignored or distorted in the mainstream media, will be heard.

Durham Arts Council's Crreative Arts in the
Public and Private Schools – 2001-present
Kenny has taught production workshops to middle and high school classes through this great Durham Arts Council program. In recent years he has collaborated with social studies and language arts teachers at one of the Lakeview School programs (formerly Bacon Street School) to create interdisciplinary projects and school year retrospectives.

The Video Club at the Boys and Girls Club of Nash/Edgecombe Counties, Rocky Mount, NC - 2000-2001
A year long artist residency which taught students how to use video gear and how to plan and produce a promotional video about H.O.P.E., the Teen Program at the club. Students also created Haiku video poems, practiced interview techniques, and documented events at the club. The Video Club project was funded with a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council.

Cary Youth Video Project, Summers 2001, 2004, 2005
A month long, intensive video production experience in which Cary teens produced diverse documentary projects. Students wrote and researched their projects, worked cooperatively in small production teams, and learned basics of editing with Final Cut Pro. The Cary Youth Video Project is a program of the Page-Walker Arts and History Center and the Town of Cary.

Cary Youth Heritage Project - "Cary-osity", Winter/Spring 2002
A documentary project at Davis Drive Middle School in which 8th graders worked together in the production of a historical documentary about the town of Cary, NC which is currently being used in social studies classes throughout Wake County. Students researched the town's past, created a video outline, acted, worked as production assistants, and shot b-roll. This project was supported with funds from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the Friends of the Page-Walker Hotel, the Town of Cary, and the Page-Walker Arts and History Center.

Video Workshops at A New Day - 2000–2004
Ongoing workshops involving middle school students at A New Day, a program serving court-involved youth ages 11-16 in Durham, NC. Students practice camera and interview techniques and create video poems. Beginning in 2001, students collaborated in the production of a documentary about the program and student perspectives of self, school, family and community. Support for the workshops is provided by the NC Governor's Crime Commission, the Durham Public Schools, Durham County, and the Durham Friends Meeting. The documentary project is funded by the North Carolina Humanities Council, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, and the North Carolina Health and Humor Association.

"Kenny taps into our students interests and their courage to create, all within a fun and productive atmosphere of cooperation. Many of our middle school students have had negative experiences at school and lost their trust and interest in learning. All are under the supervision of the court. Kenny is a gifted videographers and teacher, and truly, he is a gift to the students in our program."
- Amy Elliot, Ph.D., Coordinator, A New Day