One of the exciting new projects underway at CDIT is our apprenticeship program, Village Amp. The Village Amplifiers run a full service branding company contracting with businesses along the Lancaster Ave corridor. In addition to Village Amp, this term our eight year old Teen Technology Network morphed into the Digital Organizers—a name the youth chose for themselves. In partnership with the Slought Foundation, Digital Organizers produced deep and meaningful photo essays about issues in our communities including drug addiction, homophobia, and youth gun violence. Lastly our Comcast Digital Connectors began entrepreneurial digital media projects including one student developing her own self-warming tie-dye sock company, Tye Me Down.
The Fall term culminated in the highly digitized showcase—Art(Official) Intelligence. The event showcased all of the CDIT youth programs: Tech Stars, Digital Organizers, Village Amp and Comcast Digital Connectors exhibiting photography, videos, music, food stands, and fashion design. Over 100 came out to the showcase hosted at Indigo Bleu Design and Culture Center. We had special guest from Channel 6 Action News, Comcast, and United Healthcare Systems. The CDIT staff and students were pleased with the turnout of the event which created a greater sense of unity between the youth in all of the programs. Art(Official) Intelligence was another way that CDIT is equipping and inspiring young people to succeed in a digital world.