STAFF REPORT
DANVILLE — Teens in Illinois Public Media’s Kickin’ at Kickapoo project will show off their public service announcements about Kickapoo State Park at a celebration at 7:15 pm Tuesday on the lawn of the Danville Public Library, 319 N. Vermilion St.
The event is free and open to the public.
The library will host a “premiere” of the teens’ productions, as well as a sneak preview of Ken Burns’ PBS series, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” on the city’s Monster Media screen, according to a press release. Rain location will be in the library’s meeting room.
Since April, Illinois Public Media has partnered with the Danville Public Library, Prairie Rivers Network, the University of Illinois Department of Advertising, Kickapoo State Park, Keep Vermilion County Beautiful, Kickapoo Landing and the Boys & Girls Club of Danville to showcase all the activities available at Kickapoo.
WILL-TV and the Youth Media Workshop, both part of Illinois Public Media, coordinated the project in conjunction with the Ken Burns series and in response to research that indicates young people of color would benefit from positive experiences at local, state and national parks and from experience in making media and exposure to careers in media and natural resources.
During the summer, African-American teens from the Boys & Girls Club spent a day and a half at Kickapoo participating in activities to learn more about the park. Professionals from the Department of Natural Resources taught the youth how to canoe, fish, kayak, shoot a shotgun at a clay pigeon, hike, meditate and band geese.
WILL-TV staff taught them how to use Flip video cameras to record their activities. The teens spent classroom time with the University of Illinois Department of Advertising learning how to plan and create public service announcements. They went back to the park to film their spots, which are now ready for public viewing.
The teen-produced public service announcements will be broadcast on WILL-TV during “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” which airs beginning at 7 p.m. Sept. 27. The spots may also be viewed online at the project’s Web site, http://www.youthmediaworkshop.org/kickapoo, after the September screening event.
