Causes: Arts & Culture, Arts Education, Education, Educational Services, Film & Video

Mission: HOME's mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of young people. Our programs foster teamwork and communication skills, community building, insight into critical issues, and ways to express those issues to others.

Results: HOME, inc has a long history of providing summer programming. For the past eight summers, HOME, Inc. has provided the Teen TV Summer Intensive to BYF teens in partnership with English High School, and at Madison Park High School. We also have provided the Teen TV Summer Intensive at Somerville High School with support from the Metro North Regional Employment Board. Our Summer Teen TV Intensive has been recognized nationally by the Cable Industry’s Cable In The Classroom awards, and our Teen TV programs produced by Boston Teens can be seen on Boston’s Neighborhood Network Television, and the internet at http://www.homeinc.org/teentv/ 2015 is the year of HOME’s biennial media literacy conference at MIT. This was a unique opportunity for professional development for our partnering Boston schools that received free admission to the conference. The conference program included nationally recognized leaders in the field and great examples of best practices together with networking opportunities. More details can be found at the conference podcast page at http://www.homeinc.org/2009podcasts.htm Over the past year, HOME, Inc. conducted a pilot study based on a sample of 18 of our students tracked over three years. We measured student success in media literacy/media creation in correlation with other high school subject areas. Our study suggests our program has a profound impact on the academic performance of those students who are involved. The GPAs (Grade Point Averages) of those involved in the program have increased by nearly one whole grade level during the course of the first year. Students involved in the program, also received grades in the language section of the MCAS that were 25% better than their peers, overall. In addition there was a 5% increase in MCAS scores among those who were in the program for two years as opposed to those who completed the first year. Most promising, and perhaps the main reason for these increases, is improved school attendance. Students involved in the program showed an increase in attendance of 20% between the previous year and the end of the first year of the program. Based on this small, pilot study we have reason to expect students to improve in statistically significant ways . “My students are energized and motivated by their media projects and the work they are doing with HOME, Inc. The window is open to the larger world and my students can see how they can participate”-Katie Linso, Media and Language Arts Teacher, Brighton High School.

Target demographics: HOME, Inc. partners with inner city public schools and provides an on sight media teacher/ media lab coordinator to develop classes and run after school lab workshops in 11 schools in Boston and Somerville reaching over 1,500 each semester and works with residents at the Madison Park Development Corporation’s Timothy Smith Network Public Internet Center. HOME, Inc manages media labs that typically include 25 media capable computers, software, cameras and recording equipment. We have curriculum and web based project management tools to coordinate summer media projects with up to 15 teens at each site that participate in community service by producing media on issues that are important to teens and the community in a magazine style television program called Teen TV.The Teen TV Program engages teens in 21st Century skills: developing research, writing, and technical skills and in using computers for graphic design, video editing, web page design, blog writing, multi media authoring and production. The teens will be participating in service learning that explores the role that media plays in their lives, how to use media to make a difference in their community and they will partiipate in at least two field trips to media outlets and production facilities for career exploration as part of the program.

Direct beneficiaries per year: 2,000

Geographic areas served: HOME's mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of young people. Our programs foster teamwork and communication skills, community building, insight into critical issues, and ways to express those issues to others.

Programs: HOME’ s success in media arts and technology is based on student centered individualized learning, where all learning starts with what the student knows and not what the student is lacking. It is asset based and is flexible allowing for the greatest opportunity for students to grasp large concepts, find their own perspective on a subject or challenge and apply what they know to creative real world problem solving. Our program has four tiers: 1) full time service year support to students and teachers in media and tech by recent college graduates, 2) college student mentors who work weekly for one hour with individual students, 3) professionals in the media and related fields who provide workshops, field trips and mentoring on a more limited bases to individual and groups of students, and 4) a six week summer intensive for 30 students from our schools who work 25 hours per week in a paid creative workshop that results in the production of 4 half hour magazine styled television shows for teens.