NJ Youth Corps & New Jersey Institute of Technology "Please Judge Me" Screening

On December 4th 2014, NJ Youth Corps Crew Leader, Doug Bailey attended the Capstone Showcase at NJIT in Newark, NJ. NJ Youth Corps formed a partnership with the Capstone Program which allowed them to work with emerging NJIT graduates on a number of versatile projects. The Capstone students Sam, Alyssa and Ramesh created a short film project titled "Please Judge Me", which focused on stereotypes and how misjudging people can create barriers that inhibit us all in progressing forward. The film itself focused on a teacher who incorrectly labeled a student based on her style of clothing and not her intelligence. He learned a valuable lesson in the end!

The short film was displayed on a 50 inch flatscreen for students and judges alike to view. The Capstone students created a document to show the different stages of pre planning and development that was worked on to complete the project in full. It was certainly an engrossing experience for our Youth Corps students, as they were engaged from the acting, all the way to learning about the post editing procedures. We look forward to our continued alliance with NJIT and the Capstone  Program.

"Please Judge Me" Film Shoot (Part 1)

On November 6th, filming began with our NJ Youth Corps students who are working on short project titled "Please Judge Me". The short film will deal with stereotypes and the way they negatively effect people. In this case, a high school student is profiled by a substitute teacher who wrongly makes assumptions about the student based on the way she is dressed. NJIT's Capstone team was on hand to assist in directing and shooting the project, which should be fully completed by the end of the month. The Capstone team was instrumental in writing the script and developing some very intriguing characters.

Jeffery (played by Jacob) is dressed in clothes that are well fitted. He is a well-spoken individual that doesn't take any sides and keeps a good distance from all the other students. He is not smart but he sucks up to the teachers.

Will (played by Ashraf) is dressed in an expensive polo and wears dark shades at all times. He is full of himself, he is loud and isn't afraid to speak his mind. He has a very controlling attitude in which everything has to go his way.

Erika (played by Valerie) is dressed in very baggy clothing. She has a black snapback hat on worn backwards with a bandanna. She is somewhat quiet and does not have many friends. She is extremely intelligent and is often prejudged or misunderstood.      

There will be behind the scenes and blooper footage as well. This project will also be accompanied with a lesson plan and discussion session speaking about the ills of discrimination and the need for more tolerance to individuals differences and preferences. It is also designed as  additional training to teach our students how to become better presenters and performers at the Jersey Explorer Children's Museum, which is the Jersey City, NJ Youth Corps work-site. In addition, our students will learn about shooting, editing and producing short video projects. Below are a few shots from the shoot.