On April 5, young people from Eckville were provided the opportunity to have their voices heard by the greater community.
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On April 5, young people from Eckville were provided the opportunity to have their voices heard by the greater community.
With distinguished guests like Mayor Helen Posti present, young people from the Eckville Recreation Board Youth Group presented their photos which answered two questions:What do you like about your community and what would you like to see changed in your community?
The project intended to allow young people to have a voice in their community.
“It has been a real experience,” Photographer Connor Locke, 14, said. “A lot of us put in a lot of work and I think it will do a lot for the community. I am not exactly the social type sometimes, which makes it difficult sometimes to get my voice out into the community. It is a rare opportunity for me to have a chance like this.”
Taylor Johnson, 15, agreed with Locke.
“I am glad to get my voice out into the community about things I want changed and the things I really like,” she said. “I think pictures are worth a thousand words and I feel that pictures can be even better than talking. I had a lot of fun with this and I want to do it again.”
The project was a joint initiative between the youth group, the Eckville Recreation Board, Echo’z Photography and the Eckville Friendship Centre - where the exhibition was located.
“I work with Alberta Health Services as a Community Health Facilitator and I sit on the Recreation Board in Town,” Jerome Morgan said. “We talked about how we wanted to build more youth voice in the community so we discussed doing a Photo Voice Project. We put it out in October and got about 15 kids interested. We had six kids which finished the program which is great. It was over a ten week period; it went a little bit longer because we were building the skill sets involved with using the cameras and writing the stories behind the images.”
Morgan was pleased to see the results of the project.
“It was great to watch the young people grow from at the beginning when they were shy to the end when they are proud of their photos and what they have done,” he said. “It has been really awesome. I think it is incredibly crucial, especially within a small town. Young people don’t get celebrated enough, so by providing an opportunity to use art to tell your story and talk about the things that are important to you - that can be incredible.”
Morgan was also pleased to provide these kids with multiple opportunities.
“You are not just providing opportunity to build skill sets, but you are also providing nights like tonight where they get to be the stars of their own show,” he said. “The more opportunities like this, the more successful these kids will be and they have done such a great job. It has been awesome to be here.”
Morgan is pleased when he sees the efforts around Eckville to include youth in the community.
“In Eckville, they do a good job at providing supports for youth - especially here at the Friendship Centre,” he said. “They have a youth drop in night and do a lot of great things. I think it’s good to have nights like tonight where we can share with young people.”
Being able to provide a young person with a camera allows you to see the world through their views, according to Morgan.
“One of the key things when you give a young person a camera, they become a photographer and when we give them pen and paper they become a journalist too,” he said. “It is an opportunity for them to express their selves and it is an opportunity for them to say ‘hey lets have a dialogue and lets start a discussion.’”
todd.vaughan@sylvanlakenews.com
guestslikeMayorHelenPostipresent,youngpeoplefromtheEckvilleRecreationBoardYouthGrouppresentedtheirphotoswhichansweredtwoquestions:Whatdoyoulikeaboutyourcommunityandwhatwouldyouliketoseechangedinyourcommunity?
The project intended to allow young people to have a voice in their community.
“It has been a real experience,” Photographer Connor Locke, 14, said. “A lot of us put in a lot of work and I think it will do a lot for the community. I am not exactly the social type sometimes, which makes it difficult sometimes to get my voice out into the community. It is a rare opportunity for me to have a chance like this.”
Taylor Johnson, 15, agreed with Locke.
“I am glad to get my voice out into the community about things I want changed and the things I really like,” she said. “I think pictures are worth a thousand words and I feel that pictures can be even better than talking. I had a lot of fun with this and I want to do it again.”
The project was a joint initiative between the youth group, the Eckville Recreation Board, Echo’z Photography and the Eckville Friendship Centre - where the exhibition was located.
“I work with Alberta Health Services as a Community Health Facilitator and I sit on the Recreation Board in Town,” Jerome Morgan said. “We talked about how we wanted to build more youth voice in the community so we discussed doing a Photo Voice Project. We put it out in October and got about 15 kids interested. We had six kids which finished the program which is great. It was over a ten week period; it went a little bit longer because we were building the skill sets involved with using the cameras and writing the stories behind the images.”
Morgan was pleased to see the results of the project.
“It was great to watch the young people grow from at the beginning when they were shy to the end when they are proud of their photos and what they have done,” he said. “It has been really awesome. I think it is incredibly crucial, especially within a small town. Young people don’t get celebrated enough, so by providing an opportunity to use art to tell your story and talk about the things that are important to you - that can be incredible.”
Morgan was also pleased to provide these kids with multiple opportunities.
“You are not just providing opportunity to build skill sets, but you are also providing nights like tonight where they get to be the stars of their own show,” he said. “The more opportunities like this, the more successful these kids will be and they have done such a great job. It has been awesome to be here.”
Morgan is pleased when he sees the efforts around Eckville to include youth in the community.
“In Eckville, they do a good job at providing supports for youth - especially here at the Friendship Centre,” he said. “They have a youth drop in night and do a lot of great things. I think it’s good to have nights like tonight where we can share with young people.”
Being able to provide a young person with a camera allows you to see the world through their views, according to Morgan.
“One of the key things when you give a young person a camera, they become a photographer and when we give them pen and paper they become a journalist too,” he said. “It is an opportunity for them to express their selves and it is an opportunity for them to say ‘hey lets have a dialogue and lets start a discussion.’”
todd.vaughan@sylvanlakenews.com
On April 5, young people from Eckville were provided the opportunity to have their voices heard by the greater community.
With distinguished guests like Mayor Helen Posti present, young people from the Eckville Recreation Board Youth Group presented their photos which answered two questions:What do you like about your community and what would you like to see changed in your community?
The project intended to allow young people to have a voice in their community.
“It has been a real experience,” Photographer Connor Locke, 14, said. “A lot of us put in a lot of work and I think it will do a lot for the community. I am not exactly the social type sometimes, which makes it difficult sometimes to get my voice out into the community. It is a rare opportunity for me to have a chance like this.”
Taylor Johnson, 15, agreed with Locke.
“I am glad to get my voice out into the community about things I want changed and the things I really like,” she said. “I think pictures are worth a thousand words and I feel that pictures can be even better than talking. I had a lot of fun with this and I want to do it again.”
The project was a joint initiative between the youth group, the Eckville Recreation Board, Echo’z Photography and the Eckville Friendship Centre - where the exhibition was located.
“I work with Alberta Health Services as a Community Health Facilitator and I sit on the Recreation Board in Town,” Jerome Morgan said. “We talked about how we wanted to build more youth voice in the community so we discussed doing a Photo Voice Project. We put it out in October and got about 15 kids interested. We had six kids which finished the program which is great. It was over a ten week period; it went a little bit longer because we were building the skill sets involved with using the cameras and writing the stories behind the images.”
Morgan was pleased to see the results of the project.
“It was great to watch the young people grow from at the beginning when they were shy to the end when they are proud of their photos and what they have done,” he said. “It has been really awesome. I think it is incredibly crucial, especially within a small town. Young people don’t get celebrated enough, so by providing an opportunity to use art to tell your story and talk about the things that are important to you - that can be incredible.”
Morgan was also pleased to provide these kids with multiple opportunities.
“You are not just providing opportunity <span class="n_ 442 v2