{"id":79,"date":"2024-07-25T00:08:43","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T00:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/?p=79"},"modified":"2024-07-25T19:42:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T19:42:29","slug":"icampers-say-their-voices-are-empowered-by-connections-at-west-chester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/?p=79","title":{"rendered":"iCampers say their voices are empowered by West Chester connections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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iCAMP counselor Brandon Bond said he’s experienced racial profiling and believes journalism can help combat it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Through digital media workshops at West Chester University, iCamp students and leaders say they are more emboldened to combat social justice with their newfound skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since entering West Chester University’s iCamp program, student Eylydia Knight has been able to explore her passion for global warming and waste. She believes that video games can be used to spark societal change, including humanitarian and environmental efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she carves out her project, Knight plans to use her platform to educate those who play her games about waste, global warming, and what they can do to beautify the planet. \u201cWe all live on Earth, and it\u2019s our job to take care of it,” Knight said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knight isn’t alone. Other iCampers are exploring social justice issues through the skills they are learning in the podcast, film, and digital journalism tracks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

iCamp counselor Brandon Bond, who works directly with digital journalism track students, also believes these skills can be used to combat topics such as racism and racial profiling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bond, who’s been jokingly referred to as NBA player “Stephen Curry” by iCampers, said he’s often faced racial profiling. \u201cI have been racially profiled before … you guys get it here firsthand, (with people) calling me Steph Curry. It doesn\u2019t really sit well with me being called like another man.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bond believes digital journalism can be an important tool to combat these issues and empower students to share their own experiences with racism. And once he graduates from West Chester next year, he hopes to do the same as a sports journalist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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iCAMP assistant director Gabriella Melchiorre said she’s been affected by the issues within the education system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Assistant director Gabriella Melchiorre, who’s been involved with iCamp since its inception, enjoys working with students as their passion projects come to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melchiorre believes projects aimed at underfunded education systems can make an impact. As an elementary school teacher In Philly, she has faced the challenges of a troubled education system firsthand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are definitely underfunded,” Melchiorre said. “We don\u2019t have air conditioning … and the things that our students experience on a day-to-day basis, it\u2019s more managing and supporting what they go through than it is teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melchiorre has a lot of passion for her job, and she wants to support every single student in their dreams. \u201cYour voices are very powerful,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She thinks that any creative venture in media can help make changes, even small ones. In her younger years, Melchiorre went to many protests, and nowadays she does want to get back into more hands-on activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The iCampers have many different backgrounds, values, and beliefs, but they can all agree that the world needs change. In the end, these are just three of the many perspectives here at iCamp. No two people share the exact same values. There are so many issues affecting us not only as a community but as humans as well. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through digital media workshops at West Chester University, iCamp students and leaders say they are more emboldened to combat social justice with their newfound skills. Since entering West Chester University’s iCamp program, student Eylydia Knight has been able to explore her passion for global warming and waste. She believes that video games can be used<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251,"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.icampwcu.org\/digitaljournalism\/2024\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}