Touchstones video presentation showcase
TOUCHSTONES storytelling project with Rainier Beach high school students
Blog by Rose Petersky
July 25th, 2012
The Touchstones project is a community-based civic engagement project revealing the history, heritage, and people of the Rainier Beach neighborhood while explaining how city processes physically and socially shape the community. Touchstones videos combine the art of telling stories with modern technology and the youth perspectives on the SE Seattle community. Through the Touchstones project, Feet First worked with youth to write, direct, film, and edit digital stories sharing information about the students’ experiences in Rainier Beach as pedestrians and community members, voicing their opinions of what it is like living, working, and studying in the Rainier Beach community, through their own videos. These videos will now be shown to the general public at a free event at the Urban Impact Center on Saturday, August 4th from 11:00AM to 1:00PM. Come discover Rainier Beach through the eyes of young men and women who live, study, and work there. Admission to the event is free and light refreshments will be provided. Feet First Executive Director Lisa Quinn said, “These youth-created Touchstones videos encouraged students to see their neighborhood through a different lens while analyzing what their everyday hangouts really mean to the community, how they contribute to a sense of place, and how they can express their own ideas and perspectives through digital storytelling.” Feet First partnered up with the Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition to work with the Citizen Journalists of SE Seattle FreedomNet, a group of High School age youth who report on community events using social media, a blog, and the website they manage. SE Seattle FreedomNet recruits, trains, and supports youth to become Citizen Journalists, who then set up and manage an online information commons while broadening awareness of local leadership and initiative. Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition President Gregory Davis said, “This project is an example of how important youth voice is. These young people are civically engaged and love their neighborhood. They are actively involved in helping change the perception others have of Rainier Beach. They are our leaders of tomorrow today!”