Through practical workshops structured around the creation of digital movies, and exposure to innovative work and critical debate in the time-based media field, the AIM Education Program gives K-12 students the opportunity to explore the potential of new technologies for self-expression, learning and intellectual discovery, while acquiring the tools and confidence to use these technologies to explore, express and create for themselves.

The AIM Education Program has been designed with sufficient structure to be replicable in a large number of schools, and sufficient flexibility to be customized to accommodate both the curriculum requirements of participating schools, and the individual needs of students of all ages.

The resulting student projects have ranged in complexity from a silent one-minute sequence of still pictures explaining the process of mitosis, to an eight-minute autobiographical 'collage' comprising hand-drawn and digitized images, voice-over, music and transitions.

An additional benefit of the program has proven to be a marked increase in the participating student's confidence, revealed through administration of the Cooper-Smith Self-Esteem Inventory, a quantitative evaluation that is widely used in educational settings and highly respected for its reliability and validity. Initial results from tests
applied at Broadous Elementary School during the pilot Education Program in 2001 indicate an increase of up to 40% in participating student's self-esteem.

Building on the success of the pilot program, and with the generous support of the USC School of Fine Arts Associates, the AIM Organization continued its presence in the Los Angeles Unified School District for AIM III and additionally partnered with Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL), to expand the AIM Education Program into Pasadena communities.

In collaboration with the Pasadena Youth Institute and the Observatories of the Carnegie Institute of Washington, AIM and CORAL focused on exploring ideas and issues in astronomy, physics, leadership, innovation, and creativity. Having completed each six-week program the students take their skills back to their communities by participating in further CORAL programs in a variety of ways, in particular the tutoring and mentoring of other children.

For more information on the Pasadena Youth Institute or CORAL, please visit the CORAL website at www.coralconnect.org.

THE AIM Education Program is co-sponsored by the USC Fine Arts Associates and CORAL