GRP teen nominated for Mashed Award

Daizha, a teen participant at GRP, was nominated for the Musical/Audio Performance award at the recent Mashed Awards, hosted by the Philly Youth Media Collaborative, of which GRP is a new member! Watch the PYMC promo video and while you're learning about this awesome organization, listen for original music by GRP summer camp band, Untamed! Daizha's amazing audio piece, Ungrateful Delinquents, was created during the fall 2013 semester of our teen program. Listen here: [audio mp3="http://www.girlsrockphilly.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/daizha_audiofall2013.mp3"][/audio].

Here's more about our teen program...

In the Fall of 2013, Girls Rock Philly expanded its teen program, Shark Tank (now Sound Scholars), to two days a week. Teens in the program attend instrument lessons (guitar, bass, drums or keys) and work on experimental audio projects on a semester-long theme. This past fall, they discussed Philadelphia public school closings and budget cuts, the school-to-prison pipeline, and representation of youth in the media. These audio projects could include found sound, original music, poetry, interview clips, or any sound the students found inspiring or expressive of their experiences; these projects allowed our students to explore all the possibilities of sound and think beyond a traditional narrative or song structure while also providing a creative and communal space for them to discuss and process their personal experiences of being youth in Philadelphia. Students read articles, listened to podcasts, watched videos, and had group discussions in order to ground these conversations.

Students also visited Youth United for Change (YUC), a youth-led student organization in our Kensington neighborhood, to connect with other teens who actively work for public school reform in Philadelphia. Our students attended an open meeting, participated in team-building, and had conversations with their peers to share with and learn from one another. Shark Tank (Sound Scholars) continued to build community through their field trip to Scribe Video Center in West Philadelphia; At Scribe, our students saw an exhibit by the Philadelphia School Closings Photo Collective. These photos documented the final days of the 24 public schools that were closed in Spring 2013. During their visit, the teens learned more about audio and visual creative production in a workshop facilitated by the staff at Scribe. The trip culminated in a collaborative sound round, where the teens improvised sounds, beats and words that they felt described the photos they saw during their trip, and then layered them together using only their voices and bodies.

During Girls Rock Philly’s end of the year celebration and After School Program Showcase, Shark Tank (Sound Scholars) shared their pieces and their reasons for creating them with the larger GRP community. Individual projects covered topics such as media representations of youth compared to how youth see themselves, being young and black in Philadelphia, and discrimination. Though all the projects started with the same prompt and original conversations, the final results were unique to each individual teen.