In April, representatives from McGaw YMCA’s MetaMedia presented their work at two prominent educational conferences. 

EVANSTON, IL. – Representatives from MetaMedia recently presented their work at two prominent educational conferences in April. MetaMedia, McGaw YMCA’s digital media center and maker space for middle school youth, provides year-round STEAM programing with hands-on projects that give youth the opportunity to explore, create, and innovate.

At the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, a showcase for groundbreaking, innovative studies in education, MetaMedia presented alongside Northwestern University (NU) during a session on co-designing educational justice in Chicago and Evanston.

The MetaMedia team shared their innovative approach to co-designing summer programming through their partnership with Northwestern. The partnership began three years ago when MetaMedia received a grant from Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) to contribute to research on makerspace programs. The result of their collaboration was the MetaMedia Summer Experience (MSX), a program offered to select students in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 in partnership with the City of Evanston and Northwestern.

One of the unique aspects of the MSX program is its co-design approach, where Northwestern SESP professors trained MetaMedia staff and collaborated with them to design a curriculum for summer programming with a STEAM focus in a culturally rooted environment. The presentation highlighted how participants in the MSX summer program learn with the support of professional artists, storytellers, and scientists while investigating their personal and collective histories with a variety of learning tools and modes of expression, including storytelling through music, coding, and filmmaking.

In addition, the MetaMedia team presented at the Learning & the Brain conference in New York City, which focused on innovative approaches to the science of learning and brain development. Their presentation showcased how McGaw Y uses the YMCA Boys and Young Men of Color (BYMOC) strategy and community partnerships to help students in both the MSX summer program and MetaMedia’s year-round programs build new relationships with their imaginations, engage in critical thought, and develop new ways of thinking about their identities and families.

With the BYMOC strategy in place, students in MSX and MetaMedia who identify as Black boys described how they developed new understandings of themselves as artists, storytellers, and musicians. They learned to collaborate together and with educators in new ways, often taking on the role of experts. They developed conflict resolutions skills and learned how to support one another in the process of making, engineering, and writing.

The presentation included video testimonial where youth participants describe their experience at MetaMedia. Watch the videos clips to hear them talk about their sense of belonging, perseverance and growth, and the program’s overall impact. 

For more information on MetaMedia programs, visit the MetaMedia webpage.