Students say "Step up to the Challenge"

This video PSA was created this spring by teens at the Cabrini Connections tutor/mentor program in Chicago.

Stepping Up To The Challenge from Cabrini Connections on Vimeo.

Students have been creating videos at Cabrini Connections since 1995.

This could be happening in volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs throughout Chicago and other cities. Maybe alumni will become film makers like Leo Hall, who produced Count It all Joy, a movie that has won two awards from Christian Film Festivals this year. Leo was my first student in 1973-74.

Or maybe they will become actors like Tramaine Montell Ford, who was one of the first video group members in 1995.

This won't happen unless a greater number of benefactors step forward as producers to provide the funds that programs like Cabrini Connections need to keep students and volunteers connected and involved in these types of experiences.

It also won't happen unless sponsors support events like the Tutor/Mentor Conference where we can bring programs together to share ideas like these while also creating a spotlight that draws benefactors to multiple locations, not just a few visible ones.