Youth Zoom
Capturing Multicultural Experiences on Video
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) initiated a partnership with CompuCorps Mentoring/Les Mentors de CompuCorps in March 2006 when the Ottawa Police Services Board approved a three-year partnership agreement for the donation of surplus Ottawa Police computers to CompuCorps and World Computer Exchange.
In June 2006, the OPS was approached by CompuCorps to co-sponsor a video project with multi-cultural youth. Youth Zoom - Capturing Multicultural Experiences on Video was created to engage multicultural youth in story telling and teach them about digital video technology. The video workshops ran on four Saturdays: January 13, 20, 27 and February 3, 2007.
Results
This successful project demonstrates a unique combination of youth engagement, mentorship and technology. The participants acquired exposure to video production and contributed their own efforts and creativity in a unique way. There were a number of individuals and communities reached during the initial recruitment period and during the workshops. This reach continues with the broadcasting of six short videos produced by the participating youth teams on the popular video sharing web site YouTube as well as CompuCorps and ottawapolice.ca: