What’s New & Noteworthy at Media Power Youth

What Happens When Students Tell the Story of Their Community

Finding the answers meant going into the community and asking. Students developed interview questions, spoke with community members, filmed, edited, and ultimately decided how they wanted Franklin’s story to be told.

The finished film is worth watching not only for what it reveals about the students, but also for what it reveals about Franklin. In just 25 minutes, viewers are introduced to a city shaped by community theater, local businesses, a botanical garden, outdoor recreation, and people who continue to invest in its future. Even those who know Franklin may discover places and stories they have not encountered before.

More importantly, A City Reimagined allows viewers to experience Franklin through the students’ eyes and see how their understanding of their hometown changed as the project unfolded.

As you watch, pay attention not only to what the students discovered, but to how they chose to show it. Throughout the documentary, they make thoughtful decisions about when to move beyond an interview and show the people, places, activities, and details being described. They had to consider what an audience needed to see for an idea to feel credible, which images added meaning, and how each piece contributed to the larger story. That critical thinking is media literacy in practice.

You can also see the students’ perceptions of Franklin begin to change. Students who began with their own assumptions about their hometown met people who chose to build businesses, raise families, create opportunities, and call Franklin home.

Because the guiding questions belonged to the students, so did the process of discovering the answers. That process required much more than learning new technology. Students approached people they had never met, learned to conduct interviews and ask better follow-up questions, collaborated with one another, solved problems, and kept a complex project moving even when there was no predetermined next step. Completing something of this scale requires communication, persistence, flexibility, and teamwork, skills that extend far beyond the classroom.

Franklin High School social studies teacher Kevin DeLange saw students’ growth firsthand. Reflecting on the project, he observed, “The kids we saw in those first interviews are not the same ones that we see today.” He praised the students for learning to think in the moment, work through technical difficulties, and solve problems as they happened.

Jamie Smith, Franklin High School’s Extended Learning Opportunity coordinator, emphasized the importance of helping students carry their ideas forward. “(They) all have such fantastic ideas,” she said. “We are here to help (them) follow through on them.” She also saw students become more confident speaking about the good they discovered in their community.

The learning went both ways. While students discovered more about Franklin, the community had an opportunity to see its public school through a different lens. Public schools are not separate from their communities. They are part of the fabric of them.

We are especially grateful to Choose Franklin, whose partnership helped connect students with interview subjects and make the public screening possible.

A City Reimagined shows what can happen when students, schools, and community partners create something together. Whether through documentaries, podcasts, photography, community storytelling, or hands-on explorations of emerging technology, media projects allow students to strengthen media literacy while developing real-world skills.

Interested in bringing a project like this to your school? Contact Rebecca Garone, Media Power Youth’s Program and Community Engagement Manager, at rebecca.garone@mediapoweryouth.org or 603.222.1200 to explore the possibilities.