Lincoln University Blog Lincoln University Professors Teach Media Literacy to High School "Pushouts" LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, PA - Lincoln professors Murali Balaji and Letrell Crittenden, the co-founders of the Voice of Philadelphia, are working with two Philadelphia groups to teach media literacy skills to Philadelphia high school "pushouts," young people who say they have been pushed out of the Philadelphia public schools. Balaji and Crittenden, along with Lincoln mass communications senior, Macy Watts, spend Friday mornings developing the participants' writing, audio and video production skills with facilitators from Philly Community Access Media and Youth Empowerment Services Philly. The project, called Drop Zone, is funded by a grant from the Philadelphia Enterprise Fund, a collaboration between J-Lab and the William Penn Foundation. "This is really an opportunity for us to teach tangible skills to young people who feel as if they've been ignored by the system," said Balaji, director of the Mass Communications Center of Excellence at Lincoln University. "They get to tell their stories, and by doing so, can help to prevent others from slipping through the cracks of Philly's public schools." The project was conceived in response to the Philadelphia Public School Reform Commission's report highlighting the high number of minorities dropping out. The "pushout" stories are posted on the Voice of Philly web site: www.voiceofphilly.wordpress.com<http://www.voiceofphilly.wordpress.com> and the YESPhilly pushout blog: www.pushout-philly.blogspot.com . SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.