WAY TO GIVE KIDS A VOICE

Suicide, growing up as an LGBT person, post-traumatic stress disorder, racism. These are only a few of the issues high school students have tackled during the past three summer sessions of Youth Documentary Academy. Teenagers need a way to express themselves more than ever, and with the help of YDA founder Tom Shepard, they now have another creative outlet. Each year, the seven- week free intensive accepts about a dozen kids ages 14-18 and teaches them the entire process of creating a documentary. By the end of the program, each student has a film of his very own to distribute or screen for others.