AOC partners with Lafayette Public Library System for
“Lafayette Reads Together” Program
Announces After-School Series of Free Workshops for Teens
January 8, 2018 (Lafayette, LA)-Officials from AOC Community Media have announced that its after school teen MUSE program will host a “Stories-in-Motion” workshop series based on the Lafayette Read Together book selection, The Crossover by Kwame Alexander.
This series of workshops will challenge teens (ages 12-18) to explore multiple forms of art - from poetic arts to performing arts - and merge these forms with fun digital elements in a captivating way. Teens will tap into their inner rhyme and creativity to produce multimedia stories and visuals that reflect their own thoughts, adventures, and experiences.
The AOC MUSE program is free of charge. However, participants are strongly encouraged to pre-register on the website: aocinc.org/learn.asp.
The Lafayette Reads Together program is a community-wide experience that will begin January 10 and conclude on March 15. Lafayette Parish School System 7th & 8th graders will read The Crossover as part of their class assignment. The book is a great introduction to the popular fiction style of novel in verse. The Crossover, a 2015 Newbery Medal Winner and 2015 Coretta Scott King Winner, tells the story of 12-year-old twin brothers Josh and Jordan. Told from Josh’s perspective, the book tells of the brothers’ highs and lows both on and off the basketball court. Readers will learn all about shifting family dynamics, from siblings growing apart to experiencing a parent’s declining health.
“AOC Community Media is proud to partner with the Lafayette Public Library System and actively participate in the Lafayette Reads Together program by hosting several after-school workshops for teens.” stated Ed Bowie, Executive Director of AOC Community Media. “Vocabulary expansion, memory improvement, improved focus and concentration and better writing skills are just several of the many benefits to reading a good book, such as The Crossover”.
AOC Community Media MUSE sessions scheduled for February are as follows:
Monday, February 5, 4:30-6pm Express Yo'Self
Guest instructor Alex Johnson, writer/poet and founder of the local spoken word organization Lyrically Inclined, will guide MUSE participants to practice and explore creative self-expression through a series of fun rhythm and role-play exercises.
Monday, February 19, 4:30-6pm Digital Storytelling
Participants will record narrations of poems/short stories, then bring them to life with digital assets including images, music, and text to produce their own digital video mashup.
Monday, February 26, 4:30-6pm MEME-oirs (Memoirs)
Participants will create their own version of Hemingway's six word stories and use digital tools to create visual images (or MEMEs) that support their stories.
For more information about the AOC media literacy program, please contact Christy Tracie, Education Coordinator at ctracie@aocinc.org or 337-232-4434 ext. 113. For more information about the “Lafayette Read Together” program, visit LafayettePublicLibrary.org.
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AOC Community Media is Lafayette’s nonprofit community media center that builds an informed and engaged community through media, technology and education. AOC Community Media is a vital part of Acadiana’s infrastructure serving its residents, local government, schools and nonprofits on a daily basis. For more information, visit www.aocinc.org or follow AOC’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages.
