College Knowledge:

College Access Video Mentorship Program and Website

In 2011, I developed and led, College Knowledge, an academic and co-curricular program developed with Dartmouth College's Native American Program. College Knowledge is a college-access program developed to benefit both Native American college students and middle and high-school students living on reservations in the United States and Canada. The program offered students the opportunity to learn foundational and intermediate film production and post-production skills to gain digital media competencies and share their experiences and perspectives in a video-based medium.

Since its inception in fall of 2011, over 30 Native American students at Dartmouth College have learned basic filmmaking skills - from screenwriting to post-production editing. Many of these students applied to work with the Native American Program and the first Native American Video/Media based mentorship program because of their own experiences at home coupled with their passion to help young Native students find an easier path to college.

The short films created by the Dartmouth students are set filmed on-campus. The films deliver pertinent college-access information to prospective first-generation Native students, while illustrating general "college life activities" like going to class, socializing, and staying connected to home. The content for the videos is dictated by the questions and concerns submitted by Native students attending St. Michael's Indian School on the Navajo Nation.

The first video: College 101 was screened for the student body in the Spring of 2012. Following the video, Dartmouth students Skyped with the St. Michaels students to expand on the content of the video and to answer any and all questions. Both groups of students then participated in a fun college - informational College Knowledge Bingo activity. The program was a success with students at both St. Michaels and Dartmouth College participating fully in the program. Every week the two groups of students will come together digitally to screen a College Knowledge film, discuss the film via Skype, and then participate together in an information activity.