This blog will highlight Baylor students participating in 8-10 week summer internships with established non-profit organizations and civic groups. Students are chosen for their commitment to create systemic social change and for their ability to connect their placement to their discipline of study. These are the future movers and shakers of the non profit and for profit world. Join the dialogue.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Paul Baumgardner, July 4


Last week, I began making a video that explains the forms of youth empowerment engendered by civic action. I have been busy editing footage of students in the community, teachers' changing curricula in the classroom, and the mayor speaking about the importance of service-learning in Los Angeles. I just finished the video, and it is being posted online today. After I finished this video, I realized that much more needed to be done.

Based on student evaluations, I have learned that high school teens need help identifying the policy connection between viewing problems in their community and then creating sustainable change. This connection hinges on the students' knowledge of local government, so I am beginning my second video project. I will be making a student-oriented video, which will be given to each participating Los Angeles school. It will be a fun, interactive, multi-media film that outlines some keys to enforcing policy in their community.

I have also made headway in some personal constitutional research that I have conducted while here in California. I have been studying a fascinating First Amendment case that came before the Supreme Court in 1988. Three northern Californian Native American tribes were affected by the case, and I have been able to do several interviews already. I also plan on traveling up to northern California in two weeks to do further interviews. 

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