Learn

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, we believe it is imperative that everyone be able to contribute to public conversations about rebuilding. Our education programs are designed to equip people with the skills and tools to tell their own stories, stories from their communities, and visions for the future.

Our education programs are for both youth and adults. By educating people in documentary and storytelling techniques, we seek to build community power, cultural expression, and leadership development, particularly in communities of color and among youth. These communities have been categorically left out of mainstream media coverage of Hurricane Sandy, and they rarely have the opportunity to control and shape the coverage of their own neighborhoods. We offer training in writing, photography, oral history, audio, video and editing, as well as classes in media literacy.

Storyline education workshop with Coney Island  Generation Gap

Members of the Coney Island Generation Gap youth group.

Programs can be adapted based on community needs and programmatic goals. We partner with groups to create curricula that can enable students to:

  • Process the emotional impact of storm
  • Foster media literacy
  • Examine the role of media in civic dialogue
  • Explore impacts of natural disasters/climate change
  • Introduce basic and intermediate media skills
  • Develop collaborative and group problem solving skills
  • Identify, analyze, and apply criteria for making visual communication judgments
  • Contribute to a participatory project by producing media content, designing materials, and developing community exhibitions.

All educational workshops invite the possibility of exhibiting work made by students or adults, as well as sharing this work with the growing Sandy Storyline documentary. Our workshop focuses include:

Photography

Participants explore ways of telling stories and crafting narratives through images.

Oral History and Audio

Participants learn how to conduct interviews, record audio and edit the files. The workshop also focuses on how to tell stories and invites participants to share their own story.

Writing

Participants learn about how to conduct interviews and create written narratives. Participants examine the role of media in civic dialogue and discuss how they want to shape their contribution.

Personal Reflection

Participants focus on processing the emotional impact of storm as a group through storytelling. In writing, photography, video or spoken word, participants can explore different ways to tell their own story.

Media Literacy

Participants examine the role of media in civic dialogue and explore how and why media is used to shape perceptions about communities, neighborhood and public policy.

To learn more about beginning an education partnership, contact us at info@sandystoryline.com