BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA
100CAMERAS X SUMMER SEARCH
100cameras X Summer Search is a part of a 8 class course that is custom designed by 100cameras to equip passionate creatives with the tools to empower youth in a community they care about with the opportunity to learn how to process their stories and create change. Pictured here are 100cameras students during the course.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
100cameras X Summer Search Environmental Justice Brigade took place in Boston, Massachusetts, USA in partnership with Summer Search, an organization that empowers young people to discover their purpose through mentoring, summer experiential learning, and by providing support during the critical transition from high school to post- secondary education through to launching a fulfilling career. Students join the program as sophomores and get continued support until six years after college – after they join a powerful alumni network that spans across the country. Summer Search students are awarded scholarships to participate in summer experiences after their sophomore and junior years. These are opportunities for growth and connection that are both challenging and empowering and include local and international academic and adventure experiences. Environmental Justice Brigade started as an in-house program where students explored the impact of environmental justice in three main categories: land, air, and water.
By partnering with 100cameras, students were able to tell their story using a digital camera as they visit local organizations fighting climate change through community action. The Summer Search mission is to seek out students from low-income communities with immense potential, but unequal opportunity, and partner with them to leverage their talents, intelligence, and capabilities on their paths to success in school, work, and life. Student participants receive deep and sustained peer and mentor relationships developed through both 1:1 and peer group mentoring facilitated by staff who are skilled youth development practitioners. This unique participant-centered model supports participants to learn and grow from their lived experiences through cycles of action and reflection, and to have space to claim their racial and cultural identity while building understanding of how their identity influences how others experience them.
“Summer Search helped me through a lot, you see. I opened up, found my voice, and became the true me.”
Summer Search partners with programs like 100cameras that fit student interests and hold similar values about identity, community, and youth development. Through these summer experiences, students can pursue highly focused academic interests, travel abroad, give back to their communities in meaningful ways, and challenge themselves physically and emotionally.
“During the map my story activity where students shared high and low points of their lives, it showed themselves how important their journeys have been and how to visualize the stories they want to tell.”
MEET THE STUDENTS
ABOUT THE PROGRAM LEADERS
Trixie Cortes. Trixie has been in Boston for three years. Before that, she spent her childhood in the Philippines before moving to Chicago and then to Columbus for her college education. The different environments she grew up in inspired her love for capturing her surroundings. She was always responsible for taking family photos and got her first DSLR as an eighth-grade graduation present. In high school, she participated in an after-school program that taught inner-city youth the basics of film photography. Working in the dark room, Trixie solidified her skills in the art form. She continued this in college where she was a Teaching Assistant at Denison University for their Introduction, Intermediate, and Advanced Film & Digital Photography courses. After college, Trixie went out to work in youth development and mentoring, which landed her at Summer Search. She believes that the mentoring and support they give their students, and the experiential programs they provide them with scholarships to, is an integral part of a student’s interpersonal growth. Trixie was ecstatic to work with 100cameras as it reminded her of the program that jumpstarted her interest in photography.
Julia Staron. Julie is passionate about college access and youth development, supporting young people to leverage their strengths and follow their own pathways. Growing up in an ROTC military family, she is especially conscientious of the challenges first-generation students face and dedicated to providing insight and resources. Prior to coming to Summer Search, Julia served as a college advisor for 4 years at KIPP Delta Public Schools in the rural Arkansas Delta. There she recognized the power of 1:1 mentoring and group work to support students through postsecondary milestones, as well as identity and social development. Additionally, she volunteered with the local Humane Society as a foster mom and shelter photographer. Julia is excited to be back on the east coast and serving Boston students. Outside of work, you can find Julia hiking or saltwater kayaking with her dogs, Sasha and Lucy, cooking every meal from scratch, and writing postcards to her friends and family scattered around the world.
STUDENT IMAGE GALLERY
Follow us on social media to see images from the field as captured by the 100cameras X Summer Search team and the student photographers.