One of the things I love about working at CMAP is the
cross-community collaboration and new media tools.
By Kathy Bisbee
www.cmap.tv
One of the things I love about working at CMAP is the cross-community collaboration and new media tools.
CMAP isn’t just a public access, government and educational television station; we are a community media center with technology, storytelling and digital media resources for every member of the community.
Currently, CMAP is teaching classes to fifth-graders in Hollister, San Juan Bautista and Gilroy.
Working with these kids feels like wrangling cats, but the students are creative, innocent, full of ideas and energy and hopeful about the world.
The video production trainings teach teamwork, technology and media literacy, interviewing on camera, presenting skills, writing and narrating. They also teach being tolerant, being persuasive and producing videos.
In this new world, all of these skills are important to their future success and involvement in the community. Over a 10-week program we watched them grow into more confident storytellers, into a real team with a new interest in writing and using technology tools.
CMAP works with adults too, and our new digital storytelling classes have been popular especially among baby boomers and grandparents. It’s a great way to share the legacy of your life with your kids or a way to provide a tribute of a family member.
During our December Digital Storytelling class, a participant created a video tribute to his mother who had recently passed away. In it, he edited faded old photographs of her youth, days in the fields, at the cannery and wrote a script that reflected his respect for her life, her pride and his heritage. CMAP hopes that you too will share stories of your community and of your life in Gilroy, San Juan Bautista and Hollister. Check out the work of Len Stimac, CMAP member and digital storyteller at cmap.tv/node/89.
Our next Digital Storytelling class, Final Cut Pro editing workshop and our Producer’s Series begins Feb. 4. Check out our free and low-cost classes at www.mycmap.org/membership/calendar.html.
Recently, CMAP joined a coalition in Gilroy to discourage underage drinking in the community. CMAP staff recorded a December community vigil against drunk driving and posted it to YouTube and added it to the new coalition blog promoting a community response to the underage substance abuse in our community.
Please check out the blog and get involved in improving the environment for our youth. A joint youth project with CMAP and GANAS begins this month through a technology and media literacy program on the issue of substance abuse in the community.
CMAP produces more than 12 local government meetings each month, community events and educational programs. A monthly community news and public affairs program titled “Depth of Field” aims to highlight important community issues affecting Gilroy, San Juan Bautista and Hollister, and begins the new year with a program on the economic collapse of the banking and mortgage industry, the first of a four-part series on the local economy.
We look forward to helping you tell your stories. To get involved in CMAP, call (408) 846-4983 or visit www.cmap.tv.
