Program | Team Hercules
Deploying volunteers successfully requires matching skills and interests with opportunities. Volunteers initially need one-on-one time. Our goal is to have as many as possible achieve some level of independence and ultimately be serving others, or with others.
Local youth get to Wear the Paw. Entry into Team Hercules can be via High School Community Service, College Internships, or Summer Workforce Alliance placement. This summer, two of the seven youth in Team Hercules 2021 have leveled up enough to be Roar 1st employees.
The very first Team Hercules summer was in 2015. It was a first job experience for six youth who shared what they learned about first jobs with the world. These 29 stories are as fresh today as they were when released. The community really rallied in support of this project. Everyone is young at heart.
A few members of that team became our first Roar 1st employees. I can vividly recall how impressed a Vietnam Veteran was with Neal-Jay who was assigned to edit the video which is now our most watched production. We are currently seeking funding to restore this youth program. Applications are in with the Napier Foundation and Grassroots Fund’s Young Leader.
Seeing what we enable users to do, especially the youth, says more than any mission statement.
This year’s summer program deliverables were more diverse, but just as remarkable. We hosted seven young people. Most were WorkForce Alliance placements through the Wallingford Youth Services. A few are returning to complete thirty hours of community service hours for high school. And yesterday, a younger brother was brought along to do the same. When it is the last day and they all ask if they can come back; especially, when they had feared they would not make it through until the end, you know something went well. I hope to update this post with some clips of our story and tech coach in action with this team.
We have some incredible content in our It is Local online archives thanks to #TeamHercules2021.
Benny FL’s first video production is epic. See the reviews.
Social Service Folks: Honest, creative, inspirational. So glad this will encourage continued communication, especially with teenagers and young adults.? Incredibly powerful creation by local youth. I’m inspired by our future leaders. Access Station Staff: This is amazing & a great production & great words. Benny FL and everyone rock on/ Thank you for sharing. Senior Citizens: So many messages. I like seeing the words. (Viewer age 72) Wonderful. Your Newsletter was too. (Viewer age 78 who then subscribed to our YouTube). I do not usually listen to rap. But I did. This surpassed my expectations. I liked it. Performance Poets with creds: It is real.
Author #DareToSpeak …it was my aim that Dare to Speak would inspire educators and young people to think more about free speech, and I am so glad to hear that the book influenced Ben’s project. I enjoyed his song very much.
Winners of in 3-minute movie challenges receive gift certificates. The prizes most often requested by youth participants are for Mr. D’s and This Toy Life. We support local business and they are happy we support our youth.
Can you tell which of these movies were produced by young filmmakers? The young filmmakers who participate often in the 3-minute movie challenge were invited to be part of a live stream conversation with the award winning animator, Michael Schleif. We play his Space Bears animations weekdays at 4:30 at the start of story time. A Hercules Team member remixed the original show with some of Space Bears animation to produce Meet the Animator.
And sometimes we help others seeking to help our youth. You never know when something will hit like the lottery. Our fingers and toes are still crossed for this STEM Academy project grant via video application. Our tools and stage were used in the production of this video grant. BTW: We have our own STEaMc program Mon-Saturday on TV. ‘A” is for Arts & History and “C” is for Civics.
Our community is our reason for being and our youth are our future. Remember: There is no need to knock. Just come down and join in. Maybe you will find someone in the youth room.
BTW: Did you check out all the bold links in this post? There is no better way to know what we do than to watch videos of, for and by the people. In this post, the links are mostly to the media made by young people. Thanks for stopping by the blog.
