- November 27, 2024
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Students involved in the VOiCE program celebrated the launch of their first magazine Thursday, Feb. 9, at the George Washington Carver Community Center, in Bunnell.
VOiCE, operated by the Florida Endowment Foundation for Florida’s Graduates, is a multimedia youth-center concept designed to give young people real-world, work-based learning opportunities in journalism, creative writing, song writing, composing, graphic design, communications and publishing.
The newest program, based out of the Carver Center, is focused on desktop publishing and journalism.
“There is nothing more powerful than telling each other’s stories,” said Heather Beavan, CEO of the Florida Endowment Foundation. “It’s the only real legacy we can leave. So to teach young people how to tell other people’s stories is rich beyond measure.”
The planning for the magazine began in September, with students slowly trickling into the program. Once there, Program Director Richlin Ryan started searching for story topics that would interest the students.
“I feel that it’s very important for us to listen to the kids’ point of view in all these world issues,” Ryan said. “It’s just amazing what these kids can teach us and teach each other.”
But more than learning the technology, which is what draws in Editor-in-Chief Christina Goodwin, Ryan said it’s also about teaching the students deadlines.
A graphic designer by trade, Ryan has had a lot of experience with deadlines.
These are skills Beavan believes will follow students for the rest of their lives. “Now, no matter where they go in their lives, they will know how to listen, and they will know how to repeat other people’s stories that have touched them,” Beavan said. “They can say, ‘I want my story to matter to somebody some day. I want my story to be important enough to be told by someone else long after I’m gone.’”
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