Tom Wilson, Dani Garfield and Tim McCarty

The team’s innovative teaching idea, “Mobile Storytellers,” focuses on reconnecting students with their community through one-on-one interactive video-journalism projects. The project has been ongoing since 2014, and the school managed to raise the funds to purchase a fully-operational production vehicle for the project. The vehicle acts as a traveling video lab designed to provide a high impact, career-based experience for students as they work for non-profit clients, preserve the arts in our community, and build cultural awareness through journalistic storytelling. The Voya grant will allow the school to continue the program for years to come. Wilson and his team believe that the project gives students the opportunity to connect with people from different ethnic groups, races, economic statuses, and ages so they can jointly share their stories, prompt important dialogue, and preserve history for future generations.