The CMP project is a way for youth to discover their personal identities and create personal stories. Schools today need access to resources that builds students’ ability to critically think and ask meaningful questions. Since using CMP with students and teachers, it has boosted the media literacy and understanding of creating content and curation in classrooms.
Enrique Legaspi
Assistant Principal, RFK Ambassador School of Global Education
The Critical Media Project curricula and resources are invaluable to me as a teacher who focuses on media literacy. They help guide my students in self-discovery and reflection as we explore the ways in which media shape us and the world around us. I would never be able to curate all the wonderful material on my own. THANK YOU!
Catharine Reznicek
K-20 Educational Technology and Media Literacy Educator
Critical Media Project provided me the framework to create a unit on identity and the power of media messaging. My students are thinking critically about their world because they now understand their own biases and identity. The seniors in my classroom feel empowered by their work with the Critical Media Project.
Mara Gellman
English Teacher, Canoga Park High School
While teaching English in South Korea, I quickly learned that most of my students’ exposure to American culture was through popular music, television, and film. It was important for me to ensure that my students did not accept the images on their screens and the fragments of audio playing in their ears as truth, but as created messages that can be deciphered and questioned. The Critical Media Project provided me with relevant and current media examples that engaged students around conversations of gender, age, and race that not only encouraged students to question the media they saw but to also create their own empowering messages.
Stella Chung
Fullbright Scholar, English Teacher
In light of the current socio-political climate in recent months, I feel the CMP and its subject matter are now more important than ever, if we are ever to bridge an understanding among all peoples, and the voices of the youth and their experiences need to be heard on all platforms of media.
Tammy Amrhein
English Teacher, Bravo Medical Magnet High School
You simply celebrated people. You celebrated differences. You celebrated bravery. You celebrated vulnerability. You celebrated creativity. You celebrated LIFE. Giving our youth this stage is not only life-changing, it’s life saving. Please continue your platform.
Thai Buckman-Jordan
Friends of the Expo Center
The Critical Media Project gave me an opportunity to really be able to think. The project helped me remember my past and analyze myself. By being able to think I was able to rediscover what it was that I was fighting for, what it was that motivated me. What I found most valuable about this project was that I was able to present in class and let out all the things, my life story, the hardships, and my motivation, that I had bottled up inside.
Luis Hernandez Batres
Student, Canoga Park High School
Working with the Critical Media Project has influenced the way I pay attention to all sorts of media. I’ve become more aware of how things are advertised or put out to the world via music or productions.
Jannie Varela-Rodriguez
Student, Canoga Park High School
The Critical Media Project opened my eyes to how diverse social media can be and how much impact words can have in this world.
Christian Caballero
Student, Canoga Park High School
The media blackout along with the entire unit, truly helped me open my eyes and realize how messed up society is today, and how it is only getting worse. I no longer use my phone 90% of the time when I am sitting home “bored,” I now go out with friends and family and truly connect to them. I don’t constantly feel the need to check Snapchat, I still haven’t turned my notifications back on, it has been almost a month. I am happier now that I don’t pay as much attention to these unrealistic views of women. Media was a very important part of my life, but now I know the truth behind it. It is all fake.
Hannah Cottrell
Student, Canoga Park High School
The Critical Media Project influenced me in many ways. I feel as though I don’t need another person’s approval when i make a choice. I feel more independent and more confident with myself.
Lisete Cruz
Student, Canoga Park High School
The Critical Media Project had shone a light on many factors in my life. I wasn’t aware of the impact social media had on my life or thought process. The project allowed me to really get in depth with my true character and actions. It made me question, “why am I the way that I am?” I would have never been able to make that one step towards self-acceptance if it weren’t for all of the soul searching assignments and personal reflections. The Critical Media Project helped me embrace my strengths and weaknesses. It gave me an insight on how media toys with these strengths and weaknesses of mine and my fellow classmates. It’s not that we’re being controlled or anything, but it’s relevance is quite high in this day of age. Now I’ve learned that most people are extremely tech-dependent. We rely on media to sustain our self-esteem levels, fuel our bank of knowledge, and grow our interests. There’s so much I’ve learned from this project – so much that I want to investigate more into – I wouldn’t know how to fit it all into a few sentences.
Tory Middleton
Student, Canoga Park High School
