|
Education and Job Training |
Project 5: MUA Community Ambassadors Project
USC Lead: The Multimedia University Academy (MUA) Project
Partners: The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, The Dolores Mission,
The East Los Angeles Skills Center, The Gang Violence Bridges Project, The Pacific
Asian Consortium for Employment, Fremont Senior High School, Jefferson High
School, Locke Senior High School, Verbumdei High School, and Woodrow Wilson
High School
Project Description:
The mission of the MUA is to create a "career pathway" in multimedia production technology for young people aged 17 to 23 years. The MUA focuses its outreach on those young people "at risk" because of poverty, deficiencies in basic educational skills, and/or a lack of career goals. The MUA is open to all who might benefit from it, particularly women and under-represented minorities. The MUA program offers students an opportunity to acquire academic, learning, and social skills that will enable them to pursue advanced education, acquire advanced computer technology skills, and find gainful employment in the field of multimedia technology production.
The MUA Community Ambassadors project will train MUA graduates to perform outreach in their own communities (e.g., high schools, community organizations) among other at-risk youth. The Ambassadors will counsel students on employment prospects in information technology, the MUA, and other post-high school programs. They will also serve as aides in computer labs and with non-profit organizations, and will teach classes in computer use and graphic arts at community organizations. Ultimately, the MUA Ambassadors will recruit at-risk youth into the MUA program - students who will themselves have an opportunity to become MUA Ambassadors upon completing the program.
The MUA is currently a 20-week program during which students receive instruction in job training skills, workplace behaviors, building basic skills, learning strategies, career planning, employment placement, and evaluation and planning for advanced education all within the focus of a computer and multimedia curriculum. At the end of the training period, there should be a measurable improvement in student skills leading to student placement in entry-level multimedia employment and/or acceptance at advanced education institutions. In addition, the MUA Ambassadors will increase their awareness of community outreach programs, foster participation by the target population in outreach programs, and significantly increase confidence in the community and chances for success in employment and other training programs.