WE’RE BUILDING AN EQUITABLE
FUTURE FOR PHILADELPHIA

Recently enacted statewide policy has created new pathways to graduation for students that might struggle with standardized testing, creating an opportunity for YESPhilly students to earn their diploma through work readiness learning: internships, job training, apprenticeships, and service learning. YESPhilly is currently developing internship programs and service-learning projects with our community partners to provide holistic, enriching experiences for students as they approach graduation. We are also working towards partnerships that will allow students to obtain industry recognized credentials before they enter the workforce. Recently, we have hired a full time Transitions Coordinator to support students in navigating the new requirements, but we need to rapidly expand our capacity to cover costs of professional certifications, internship stipends, and transportation, for all of our students.

We seek to support student interest and cultivate talent and skills in Media Arts through the further development of Media Arts education, programs, and opportunities. Media arts education engages and empowers students with creative skillsets, promotes project-based and interdisciplinary learning, and supports students in connecting to their communities and the world in unique ways. Media arts teaches creative and effective communication, through the use of visual and audio technologies. Through media arts, students strengthen their critical thinking abilities to analyze media as well as personal, cultural and historical context. They learn to explore, generate, develop and express their own ideas and feelings through the media arts – developing technical and communication skills— with a platform to speak about issues within their community that they are confronted by and passionate for.  We are currently constructing a multimedia recording studio to provide a safe space for students to explore and grow through media arts. We are currently in need of additional support to purchase additional technology, equipment, and tools, as well as additional staff to provide hands-on instruction, support, and guidance as students develop their vision.

We intend to build upon past partnerships and community support for sustainability and environmental justice initiatives, centering students as the agents of change in our planet’s future. This project aims to cultivate partnerships with local organizations, to create opportunities for students to get in touch with the natural world, to enrich science curriculum as well as expose students to potential career pathways in green jobs, a promising field ripe with opportunity for new, diverse perspectives.